


Tell me, Atlas

by DeathStarryNight



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, And yeah Ben Solo's in Slytherin, Angst, Death Eaters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Excessive use of Ancient Runes, F/F, F/M, Gang's all here - Freeform, M/M, Patronus, Poe is the most Gryffindor ever, Quidditch, Rey is a hufflepuff, Slow Burn, Snoke as Voldemort, Soul Bond, fight me, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:53:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 58
Words: 159,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18344078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathStarryNight/pseuds/DeathStarryNight
Summary: Rey is a Hufflepuff.  Ben is a Slytherin.  Everyone knows they hate each other.  Who could not, when they're always spitting acid in the hallways?  But sixth year dawns darker than ever before.  With the new threat of Snoke looming in the background, Rey and Ben find themselves paired as unlikely partners and Rey suddenly realizes that there might be more to Ben Solo than she originally thought.  As the Death Eaters call, will it be enough to turn him away from the dark side before it's too late?Tell me, Atlas, what is heavier: the world or its people's hearts?





	1. Platform 9 3/4

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This fic updates twice a week: Wednesdays and Saturdays. I have about 22 chapters written already, so we should be going steady for a number of weeks, but I don't know how long this will end up being. If you've commented, thanks! I'll try to get to your comments ASAP. Happy reading :)

            King’s Cross bustled with all the usual activity of its bursting terminals.  People sprinted to catch trains going everywhere throughout Britain and across the Channel into Europe.  Couples and families reunited.  Lovers and friends parted.  A sizeable number of witches and wizards tried to blend in as they made their way to the hidden Platform 9 ¾.

            Rey Niima faced the bold red steam engine and hung back from the crowd of students bidding goodbye to their families or jumping onto and from the train.  She had navigated the crowds and hidden entrance alone with her trolley.  Her owl, BB, preened his orange and white feathers and hooted happily at her.  She liked to think he recognized the train.  She grinned down at her owl and started towards the steam engine. 

            Rey had just begun to pull her trunk into one of the carriages when a strong hand caught the other side and lifted it easily.  She looked over its top and into Finn’s wide grin.

            “I can get it myself, Finn,” she protested but found herself smiling too.

            “Still haven’t learned to take help, have you, Rey?” he asked and hauled it up into the train.  Rey huffed at him but soon relented and threw her arms around him laughing.  “Come on, girl.  Poe and Rose have a compartment already.  They let me get the luggage.  So generous.”

            Rey tugged her trunk and BB down the car and into the compartment Finn indicated.  She slid open the door and was greeted immediately by loud shouts.  Rose and Poe had not even sat down yet.  They turned as one to face the door.

            “Rey!” Rose called and threw her arms around her.  Her friend held Rey back at arm’s length and looked her over from head to toe.  The smile on her face faltered as she took in the holes at the knees of her jeans and the feel of her bones under her skin.  Poe distracted her by clapping Rey on the shoulder.

            “Missed you, Rey,” he said.  “Give me your trunk.”  He hoisted it up onto the rack above the seats.  “And there’s BB! How’s my boy?”

            BB hooted happily, and Poe pulled an owl treat from his pocket.  “I think you like my owl more than me.”  Poe had gifted BB to her two years before for her fifteenth birthday, ostensibly so they could keep in contact over the summer.  Finn was still bitter about the present that couldn’t be topped, as he called it.  He muttered something under his breath as he shoved his way into the crowded compartment.  Although only four of them filled the six available seats, it felt ready to burst.  Her face was close to splitting from her grin.

            “Can you people move so I can actually get inside?” Finn grumbled.  Rose laughed and pulled Rey down onto the seat.

            “How was your summer?” Rose asked her excitedly as the boys shoved Poe’s expansive trunk into the luggage rack.  Poe Dameron had more luggage than she thought anyone would ever need.  Finn had stolen one of his worn leather jackets in third year and he hadn’t even cared.  He had at least four others.  But she suspected that half his trunk was filled with hair gel.

            “Fine,” Rey answered her friend.  She didn’t elaborate.  Summers at the Platt Orphanage were never fun.  Since she was fourteen, she’d worked all summer as a shop girl, but the Platts had taken most of her money.  The rest had gone to new secondhand robes, since she’d outgrown her last ones by several inches.  “I’m glad to be back.  How was yours?”

            Rose launched into a detailed account of her trip to Vietnam and Rey hung on every word, even as Finn and Poe began to get bored.  Rey had never even been out of Britain.  The farthest she’d been from London was to Hogwarts itself in Scotland.  Rose’s mother was part of the old Prewett wizarding clan, but she had shocked everyone by marrying a foreign, half-blooded wizard.  They went back to visit her father’s family in Vietnam regularly.  From what Rey had gathered, the extensive Tico family was prominent there.

            Poe lounged on the seat across from her.  Finn shoved his knee to get him to move over.  She knew Finn had spent the last month of his summer with Poe’s family after his parents had finally kicked him out.  A certain sadness hung on her friend’s face now.  Rey had glimpsed Shara and Kes Dameron waving them and Poe’s older brother, Kes, goodbye.  Shara’s little daughter, Mara, clung to her mother’s leg in tears.  She would start Hogwarts next year.

            The train lurched into motion.  Poe and Finn leaned out the window for a final goodbye.  Rose shoved them aside to wave to her own parents.  Rey had no one to wave to, but she watched her friends with a smile.  They finally collapsed back on the seat when the platform receded from view.  Almost as soon as they did, the compartment door slid open.

            “This one’s full too.  Merlin’s balls!” A girl with brown hair pulled into a messy, low bun and bright green eyes cursed.  The boys stood behind her, each taller than the last and towering over her slight form.  Except Jyn Erso never struck anyone as slight.  Everywhere she went, her ferocity filled the room.

            “Charming as ever, Jyn.” Poe winked at her.

            Jyn sent him a vulgar gesture.  A tall, gangly boy leaned into the compartment.  “I don’t think that’s how you make friends, Jyn.”

            She turned her vulgar gesture on the tall Ravenclaw.  Kay Esso’s face did not change at all.  Beside her, Cassian and Bodhi rolled their eyes.  “Nonsense.  Poe and I are great friends.  Come on, we’ll keep looking.  This lot won’t budge.”

            She slid the compartment closed again with a snap.  Finn leaned his head back on the seat.  “How long until we have to go to the Prefect meeting?  I fancy a nap.”

            Rey groaned.  She’d almost forgotten about the Prefect meeting.  Not long, she was sure, which meant they had to change.  She huffed and snatched her secondhand robes from her trunk to find the loo before it got too crowded. 

            Rey stepped out of the closet-like room without looking and adjusted her yellow and black tie.  She almost ran straight into a ginger-haired boy with an unpleasantly rat-like face.  He sneered when he sidestepped her.

            “I see no one could buy you new robes this year, mudblood,” Hux snarled.  She felt the hole at her elbow acutely.  She had tried her best to patch it, but Rey was not the finest at housekeeping spells.

            “It’s a shame all your money couldn’t buy you a less rat-like face,” Rey snapped.  “Or maybe it was perfectly fine before you went and soiled it.”  She turned on her heel and marched off before he could say anything else.

            She was still fuming when she returned to their compartment.  Poe took one look at her expression and asked, “what happened?  I thought you just went to the loo.”

            Rey tucked her wand behind her ear to shove her clothes back into her trunk.  It felt great to have it back and free.  She could do magic any time she wanted now, not just practice it in the dead of night, she reminded herself.  That thought was almost enough to outweigh her anger at the smarmy redhead.  “Hux,” she snapped.

            “You should have cursed him into next century,” Poe growled.

            “And get in trouble with Professor Kenobi right off the train?  That’s a great start to the semester for a prefect.  Negative ten points for Hufflepuff!” she scoffed.  Hux had known she wouldn’t dare curse him on the train.  Not that he ever passed up a chance to mock her.

            “Then, I’ll curse him into next century,” Poe said and whipped out his wand for effect.  Rey rolled her eyes.  He would too, if she gave him the opportunity.  They’d be at each other’s throats again soon enough without her help.  In all honesty, she’d probably help if he called her a mudblood again.

            The appearance of Hux had reminded her of another unfortunate product of the prefect meeting: Ben Solo.  She’d been shocked to find out he’d made prefect last year, although she shouldn’t have been with his pedigree.  Tarkin always favored the purebloods.  But who else were they going to pick?  Hux?  No, of course, they’d picked the Slytherin Golden Boy with his stupid hair and sneer.  She was not looking forward to this meeting.  The last time she’d seen him, she’d cursed him.  And for good reason.  Even Professor Skywalker had agreed with her.  Although, he wasn’t particularly fond of his nephew.

            “Chocolate frog?” Poe offered, and the chocolate took her mind off the infuriating Ben Solo and the even more repugnant Armitage Hux for a few minutes.

            It was late afternoon when someone banged on their compartment door.  Paige Tico slid it open, looking bored.  Rey rarely saw her look anything other than bored except with a book or one too many drinks in her hand.  She also looked remarkably like her younger sister, who sat beside Rey, though the tie she wore was blue instead of yellow.

            “Come on, let’s get this over with,” she said with a jerk of her head.  “Hey, Rose,” she added as an afterthought.

            Paige Tico was Head Girl and shared her unfortunate duties with the Gryffindor Bodhi Rook, as rumor had it.  She’d expected Kay, but they didn’t usually appoint both heads from the same house, and she was glad.  Kay was too stiff and sarcastic for first-years.  Paige had been the obvious choice for Head Girl, but that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it.

            Finn and Rey followed Paige into the large, crowded compartment built for this purpose.  Tension, as always, bubbled in the air, but excitement too.  A new class of prefects sat nervously crushed against the wall as the veterans filed in.  Finn and Rey smashed into one of the last remaining seats, their legs tanged together.  She spotted Gwen Phasma’s white-blonde hair towering over everyone else, but Solo hadn’t arrived.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  Maybe Professor Skywalker had seen sense and replaced him.  No luck.  Just as Paige and Bodhi began the meeting, the compartment door slid open.

            The first thing she noticed was that Ben Solo had gotten taller.  His dark mane of hair had also been allowed to grow past his ears to dust the edge of his collar.  He smirked at the glowering Paige and slid the door closed before leaning against it in that infuriating, cocky way.  Arrogant prick.

            “You’re late, Solo,” Paige snapped and continued the meeting without giving him room to respond.  “Alright.  Welcome new prefects.  I hope you read the packet sent out this summer.  I’m not going to repeat all of it.  I also hope you have finally memorized the way to your Common Room, because that’s the first task.”  She earned a few chuckles from the less nervous veterans.

            “Bodhi has the passwords,” she continued, and the Head Boy handed out slips of parchment.  “Hufflepuff, you still have a password this year.  As for Ravenclaws…good luck.”  More laughter and a few groans.  “One prefect stands at the end of each table during sorting and greets new first-years as they’re sorted.  Once the feast is over, you’ll _all_ lead the firsties to your common rooms and show them around and to their dorms.  _ALL_ prefects,” she said pointedly and glared at the Slytherin prefects.  Rey had almost forgotten about the drama that had ensued the previous year after the Slytherin prefects had supposedly left their first-years in the Great Hall to find their own way.

            Rey glanced up at Solo, but his face was inscrutable.  Rumor had it that he had been the one to bully Phasma into leading the firsties to their Common Room and dorms with him.  He’d gotten a pitcher of pumpkin juice levitated over his head for his trouble, and Krennic hadn’t spoken to him for a week after.  Not that Rey thought being ignored by Krennic would be a bad thing.  One of the seventh-year prefects shot both him and Paige dirty looks now.  So much for house unity.

            “Anyway,” Paige said and glanced down at the list on her clipboard.  “Prefects stationed at the tables will be Finn for Gryffindor, Rey for Hufflepuff.  Connix, you’re up for Ravenclaw, and Solo, you’re the only one I can trust with Slytherin firsties, shocking as that is.”

            Paige’s logic was sound, Rey thought.  All sixth-year veterans who would be friendly faces to welcome first-years, except maybe Solo.  The best he could manage was to be the least scowl-y member of the Slytherin cohort, which wasn’t saying much.  Rey and Finn nodded.

            “Great and then everyone leads to Common Rooms.  Make sure they know their way around and understand all the rules.  You know the drill.  Make sure they don’t get lost on the way to their beds.  Right, so, regular rotations start this week.  Everyone does rounds after hours once a week and every other weekend.  Remember, weekend rounds are longer because you have to do half the castle instead of a third, but they’re every other week.  For Hogsmeade weekends, one prefect per house per weekend stays back.  We’ll work out that schedule later.  You’ll each have a rounds partner which will not change, so play nice.”

            Rey had been dreading round assignments.  Last year, she’d been fortunate enough to draw Bodhi and had proved a good partner to his gentleness and non-confrontational attitude.  She glanced around the fifth-year prefects.  She recognized most of them but knew few.  Stephen, the new Hufflepuff prefect, was out because Paige wouldn’t pair prefects from the same house as a rule.  Plus, it had to be a male-female pair.  That left three new prospects.  She had proved herself capable enough to help a new prefect learn the ropes.  Paige handed the schedules to Bodhi, and he began to pass them around.  Rey accepted hers from him with a smile.

            She glanced over Paige’s neat schedule.  Finn had drawn Tuesdays and one of the new prefects.  That wasn’t much of a surprise or disappointment.  Rey knew Paige wouldn’t pair her with Finn either.  She finally found her own name printed under Thursday, which suited her fine.  And next to her name…Rey froze.

            Ben Solo.

            She looked up and into his dark eyes, drawn with shock.

            Shit.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey can't believe she has to be paired with Ben Solo of all people...and he's not helping matters.

            Rey barely listened as Paige finished up their meeting and floated plans for the yearly prefect Halloween party.  What was Paige playing at?  Pairing her with Ben Solo?  She couldn’t process it.  There must be a better way.  Couldn’t Phasma and Ben just be together in a posse of horror?  Concentrate it all on one night of the week when no one would go out?  She could answer that question for herself.  The Slytherins would run wild once a week.  The door slammed open and shook her from her reverie.  In an instant, Solo bolted from the compartment.  Whatever.  She didn’t want to talk to him anyway.  Finn had risen to introduce himself to the shy Ravenclaw girl he’d been paired with.

            Rey caught Paige before she could escape.  Sure, maybe somewhere in Rey’s mind she knew this _might_ be the best plan, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight.  Paige turned to face her and sighed.

            “Look, Rey, I know what you’re going to say, but you were the only one I thought could handle him.  I’m paired with Krennic myself, so it could be worse.”  Paige sighed again and pushed her hair out of her face.

            Rey glanced over at Krennic’s retreating back and acknowledged the truth of her words.  Krennic was undoubtedly worse than Ben Solo.  It was a little flattering that Paige had so much faith in her.  Flattering and now utterly frustrating.  “He hates me,” she muttered half to herself.

            Paige put a friendly hand on her shoulder.  “If anyone can get through to him, you can.”

            The Head Girl turned away to address other concerns.  Finn still held his conversation with the fifth-year Ravenclaw, who grew more starry-eyed every second, so Rey decided to meet him back in their compartment.  The prefects’ compartment had grown too stifling for her taste.  She took a deep breath of the relatively clear air of the hallway.  She only made it a few steps before she was cornered by none other than Ben Solo.

            He towered over her—he really had grown much taller—probably in an attempt to appear menacing.  “Save it, Solo,” she hissed, trying to sidestep him.

            “Did you ask Tico if anything could be done?” he asked without preamble.  Well, he should at least have the decency to pretend this could work out.  Prick.

            “I did,” she snapped.  “Not that you helped.  You left so fast I thought Phasma bit you.”

            His face didn’t change.  “And?  Did she place you with a newbie like I’m sure you wanted?”  One track mind, this one.

            “No.”  Her temper quickly wore thin with Solo and his interrogation.  “Apparently no one else wants to bother with you, so I’m stuck with the job.  Can’t imagine why.”

            Rey shoved him away from her and actually succeeded in moving him enough to get passed, though it felt like hitting a brick wall.  “I thought you’d appreciate me as a partner,” he said to her back as she passed.  “I’m a step up from that blood traitor.  Several steps, I’d say.”

            Rey sent a vulgar gesture back at him in place of a curse and heard him chuckle.  Fine, then.  If he wanted it to be like that, she’d meet him blow for blow.  She stormed back to her compartment and closed the door with a slam.  Finn opened it a second later, looking alarmed.

            “What happened, Rey?” Rose asked.

            “Ben Bloody Solo,” she yelled and threw herself down into her seat.

            Rose and Poe exchanged glances.  “What about him?  I mean, not that he’s short on reasons…”

            “He’s a pompous prick who thinks too much of himself and has no consideration for others,” she fired back.

            “…something new?” Poe ventured.

            Rey sighed.  “And he’s my rounds partner for the year.”  It made her blood boil just to consider it.  “I get to spend every fucking Thursday with Ben bloody Solo.”

            “I’m going to kill Paige,” Rose said.  “She’ll change it if…”

            “Don’t bother,” Rey huffed.  “I already asked.”

            “I guess we’ll hear even more about Solo this year.  Lucky us,” Finn said with a twisted grin.  Poe snorted.

            Rey’s mouth dropped open.  “I don’t talk about Solo that much,” she protested.

            Finn raised his voice in some terrible approximation of her own.  “Solo almost hit me with a quaffle in Quidditch again.  The idiot.”

            “The prick almost ruined our potion today,” Poe added with a moderately better mimicry.  “I don’t know how he’s top of the class.”

            “Solo had the audacity to beat me on a Runes test by one point!” Rose’s imitation of her was by far the best, she had to admit.

            Rey rolled her eyes, but felt a smile pull at her cheeks anyway.  She didn’t have much of a defense against their accusations and she knew it.  Solo _did_ infuriate her.  And for good reason.  She stole a chocolate frog from Poe and slapped his hand away when he tried to take it back.  “Well, at least he’s not bad to look at,” Rose remarked.  Finn looked like he was about to be sick.  Poe choked.  “What?  Boy got tall.”

            “Merlin’s beard, Rose, can we not talk about _Ben Solo_ like that?  I mean, really,” Rey complained.  Poe and Finn seconded that statement.  Rose shrugged, unconcerned, and continued making headway in her pile of candy.  Rey stole some for the simple injustice that she’d missed the food trolley.

            “What about _your_ rounds partner, Finn?” Rose asked.  “Who’d you draw?  I’m guessing not one of the Slytherins or you’d be complaining too.”

            “Nah,” he shrugged.  “A fifth-year Ravenclaw named Tracy Clearwater.  Seems nice enough.  A little quiet.”

            “And completely smitten with you,” Rey added.  “I bet she’s had a crush on the Gryffindor Hero since she found out you ditched your relatives in Slytherin.”

            Both Poe and Rose looked less than happy with that information.  “Why is _he_ the Gryffindor Hero?” Poe protested.  “What has he done?”

            “What have _you_ done?” Finn fired back at him.  “At least I left my death eater family.  That was _brave_.  You’re just stupid.”

            Rey and Rose laughed as the two devolved into arguing and rattling off their Quidditch records.  The four friends chatted about summer and new developments in their lives and the news that Rey had missed in her months without the Daily Prophet.  She couldn’t afford a subscription for herself, but she reliably bummed a copy off her friends every day. 

            Rey mostly listened and watched for Hogwarts to appear out of the window, though it was still light and far too soon.  She didn’t talk about her summer as a rule, though one of them always ventured to ask.  This year, it was Finn.

            “How was your summer, Rey?” he asked and turned towards her.

            “Oh, you know,” she shrugged.  “Full of muggles.”

            That reminded her.  She pulled out the damage-proof Nokia that she’d used all summer and turned it off.  It didn’t work at Hogwarts anyway, though she always turned it on when she went to Hogsmeade, where there was less magical interference, to see if she’d gotten any texts from the others at the Platt Orphanage. 

            With its annoying dingly notification turned off, her last connection to the muggle world dropped away.  Forever, she reminded herself, for she planned to never allow herself to return to the Platt Orphanage—or the muggle world—again, if she could help it.  In four months, she’d be a full, legal adult in the wizarding world.  She had two years left at Hogwarts, sure, but she’d make it work.  Professors Skywalker and Organa liked her and seemed to know everyone.  She’d work in a shop in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, rent a room, and finally be free.  Free to get sweets from Honeydukes and read every book in Flourish and Blotts and send owls to Poe and Finn and Rose whenever she wanted, even visit them if she could manage a room connected to the Floo Network.  Maybe Finn would do the same and be her roommate.  They’d get along well as flatmates…

            The appearance of Hogwarts across the like shining with moonlight shook Rey from her dreams of the future.  The train chugged into Hogsmeade station and wheezed to a stop.  Rey jumped to her feet and had grabbed her satchel before Poe or Finn could offer to help.

            “You’re excited,” Poe observed. 

            “She’s always excited,” Rose reminded him.

            Rey grinned.  “It’s Hogwarts!  What’s not to be excited about?”

            Sixth year.  Only two years left, and she would revel in every minute of it.  She bounded off the train and bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for her friends to follow.  They left their luggage on the train, though she loathed to leave BB behind.  He would be well taken care of in the owlery.

            The four of them headed to the line of carriages waiting to take them up to the school.  She spotted Solo with a group of Slytherins climbing into a carriage ahead of them, but only recognized him by Phasma’s white-blonde hair glinting in the moonlight.  That and Solo had frozen with one foot in the carriage, his eyes fixed on the place where empty space stood instead of horses.  Phasma tugged on his sleeve.  “Get in, Solo.  You’re holding up the line.”

            He shook his head, climbed inside, shut the door, and was gone.  Rey forgot Solo and his odd behavior as they climbed into their own carriage.  She practically pressed her face to the glass to see the lights of Hogwarts looming closer.  It always reminded her of that first wondrous journey across the lake in the boats.

            She’d met Rose on the train, sitting in the first open compartment she’d found.  Unlike her, Rose knew what was going on, though she’d folded herself into the far corner and sniffled because Paige had left her to sit with her friends.  So, Rey had taken that seat and listened to her talk about Paige forgetting about her and how afraid she was that she’d end up in Slytherin.  Rey didn’t even know what Slytherin was, but she’d decided then and there that if sweet Rose didn’t want to be in Slytherin, she didn’t either.  They had followed each other into a boat with small hands gripped tight.

            And promptly ran into Poe and Finn.  Literally.  They’d crashed into the boat so hard that it had almost capsized.  Like Rose, Poe and Finn knew what to expect, and Poe started rattling off about the Sorting Ceremony and the merits of Gryffindor, which was much better than all the other houses combined, to hear him tell it.  But she recognized that same look in Finn’s eyes.  She was sure it was mirrored in her own gaze on Rose.  Like this other person was a lifeboat and he’d been drowning his whole life.  Rey still thought Finn could have ended up in Hufflepuff with them, but it was no surprise when he followed Poe into Gryffindor.

            “Rey!  Earth to Rey!” Poe snapped his fingers in her face, and she snapped her teeth at them.  “I said, how many firsties do you think we’ll have this year?  Did they tell you in your stuffy boring meeting?”

            “There were so few last year,” Rose muttered.  She was right.  The smallest class yet, the children of the last war.  Rey didn’t want to think about that now with the threat of Snoke and his new world order hanging over them.  Finn’s face had drawn closed.  His parents believed in Snoke’s nonsense, and he’d fled their home because of it.  He’d tried to make it sound tame, but Poe had written to her in horror of what they’d done to their own son.  Now Finn wore the new scar above his eye and the title ‘Blood Traitor’ sneered at him in the halls like badges of honor.

            “I hope they’ll have pudding at the feast,” Poe said, and the heavy mood evaporated.

            Rose rolled her eyes.  “There’s always pudding.”

            The haunted look didn’t leave Finn’s eyes until Rey shouted and pointed out the glittering lights of Hogwarts.

            They were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Our characters will be spread out over a few houses. More to come on Wednesday: the Great Hall and Sorting First Years and characters new and old!


	3. The Welcome Feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another year, another welcome feast, introducing characters new and old

Rose and Rey had to separate from Finn and Poe when they reached the Great Hall.  The boys sat at the table beside theirs, cloaked already in red and gold.  They didn’t go far.  Rey and Rose sat at the end of the long table closest to the Headmaster’s table, so she could easily stand to greet new Hufflepuffs.  She could turn around and jab Poe’s back with a fork if she leaned.  Naturally, she took full advantage of that.

            “Merlin, Rey,” he cursed when he finally figured out where the jabs came from.

            Anything else he’d planned to say was cut off by the girl beside him, who chose that moment to strike up a conversation.  Rey leaned back into her own table and greeted Henry McLaggen, the fourth-year who’d sat down across from them.  They exchanged small talk about their summers, and Rey leaned around Rose to greet Hannah Kent, their fellow sixth-year and roommate.  She paid almost no heed to their hellos and launched straight into her latest crusade.

            “Can you believe that Muggles don’t even have reliable access to birth control?” Hannah always had a crusade and usually Rey was more than happy to listen, but not at the Welcome Feast.  “I was just reading in my Muggle Studies book on the train.”

            “I was raised by Muggles,” Rey reminded her at the same time as Rose said, “what’s birth control?”

            “Like a contraception spell,” Hannah said.

            “Well, of course not.  They don’t even know about magic,” Rose answered.

            Hannah opened her mouth, probably to educate her on muggle forms of birth control and their various merits, but Rey spoke first.  “Can’t we just catch up first?  We can talk about birth control all night if you want Hannah, but later?  After the Welcome Feast?”

            Hannah nodded and was distracted by the arrival of their other friend.

            Eliza Mohapatra and Hannah Kent were as different as two people could be.  Hannah had her head in the clouds, tirelessly working towards whatever cause she’d adopted at that time, full of wild ideas and things to try.  Eliza was the practical one, always advising Hannah about how she should go about things, but she had a breezy, carefree side too.  They were also fast friends.

            “Did you read the Quibbler on the way up?  Did you know Lovegood is coming to Hogwarts later this semester?” she asked as she sat down.  “Oh, hello, Henry.  Yellow looks good on you.”

            Rey’s greeting to her friend was interrupted by the Headmaster’s appearance at the podium.  The room fell silent at once, though he had said nothing yet. 

            Luke Skywalker was famous amongst wizards.  He had defeated the Dark Lord, Darth Vader, his own father, when he had barely left Hogwarts and had fought in the war that delayed the rise of Snoke.  There were whispers that Snoke had gone into hiding and now planned his second rise.  Like Skywalker had been an Auror and had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts before becoming headmaster.

            The current professor of Defense was none other than his twin sister, Leia Organa.  She had fought in every war alongside her brother and made a career in the ministry before he convinced her to join the staff at Hogwarts.  Everyone knew that it was she who had marshalled their wizarding forces against Vader and again in the brief war against Snoke.  She commanded troops as easily as she breathed.

            That stately witch breezed into the Great Hall followed by a crowd of first years.  Rey felt Rose shift beside her.  “There are so few of them.”

            There were.  Fewer than forty.  Not like the old classes of hundreds that had graced these halls before Snoke’s rise.  Professor Skywalker yielded the podium to his sister.  Professor Organa, Rey thought, looked equally at home behind a podium and on a battlefield.  She gave a motherly smile to the crowd and to the new first-years in particular. 

            “Welcome back to Hogwarts,” she said and a few cheered.  “And welcome to our new class of young witches and wizards.”  She looked off to the side and motioned to a small woman who carried a hat almost as large as herself.  The hat had seen better days.  It was creased with dirt and years and didn’t look like anything special, but everyone in the hall leaned closer.  Professor Kanata, the impossibly small Divination professor, set the hat on a stool.  “When I call your name, come forward, and I will place the hat on your head.”

            Rey could see the first years trembling.  They were barely three feet from her and all looked so small.  They looked smaller every year.  Professor Organa cleared her throat and unrolled a very official-looking scroll.  “Tracy Abbott.”

            As the first student stepped up to the hat on trembling legs, Rey stood beside the head of her table and tried to make her face look welcoming.  She saw Finn and Paige do the same on either side of her.  On the other side of the hall, she hoped Ben at least tried to smile.  Tracy Abbott was sorted into Gryffindor, and Finn crouched to shake her hand and lead her beaming face to a spot at his table, where she was greeted eagerly by the elder Gryffindors, including Bodhi and Jyn.

            Steve Anderson went to Ravenclaw, and Paige ushered him down to a spot.  Orion Black went to Slytherin to no one’s surprise at all.  The Black family had long been a bastion of Slytherin House.  She glanced at Finn’s dark face.  His family was distantly related to the Blacks, as many old wizarding families were.  They intermarried too much for Rey’s comfort.  She watched the black-haired boy run towards the cheering table of Slytherins.  To her surprise, Solo knelt to greet him with a smile that she’d never seen on his face.  Well, at least one Slytherin could control his nasty self for a few moments.  Perhaps that was why Professor Tarkin had made him a prefect, although she didn’t put much stock in that man’s judgement.  She’d always thought it had more to do with him being Professor Organa’s son.  Tarkin stretched one of his eerie grins at the new member of Slytherin house.

            It wasn’t until Greta Finch that Hufflepuff got its first new member.  After that, they got three in quick succession.  Rey greeted all of them by name and led them through the ranks of cheering Hufflepuffs.  All four of their new members beamed at their new housemates.  The sorting continued, and the students were divided almost equally between the houses.  One, Brett McCormick, was a hatstall.  The Sorting Hat sat for a full six minutes before declaring her a Ravenclaw.  The table bathed in blue cheered extra loud for winning whatever tie had been occurring over this girl’s mind.

            Rey remembered her own sorting.  She didn’t know what the houses meant, but Professor Organa explained briefly beforehand what their significance was.  It seemed like such a daunting choice to have to make right at the beginning.  And worse, she couldn’t even follow Rose, since she would be sorted after her.  Poe was one of the first and the hat had barely touched his gelled hair before it cried _Gryffindor_.  Rey had climbed the steps to the Hat on trembling legs.

            “Ooo,” the hat had said in her ear.  “A blank slate.  You don’t know anything about any of them, do you?”  She sat rigid with fear.  “Bravery, yes, and loyalty.  You would do well in Gryffindor.  Not a bad mind, either, and a thirst for your studies.  Ambition here too.  Ah, but that’s all an escape, isn’t it?  Yes, I see what you want most.”  Rey had hoped desperately that no one else could hear this dialogue in her ear.  “Belonging.  You want to find your place.  Well, I know just what to do with you…. _Hufflepuff!_ ”

            Yes, Rey remembered her own sorting as if it were yesterday.  She had joined the cheering Hufflepuff table and met Eliza and Hannah at once.  They had both been sorted moments before her.  And a few minutes later, Rose had joined them.  Finn Zabini had been the very last one sorted and most of the room had moved on.  A Zabini.  He’d be in Slytherin.  Except the Hat had sat on his head for six whole seconds before declaring him a Gryffindor.  She still remembered the otherworldly hissing that had come from the Slytherin table, though she hadn’t understood why at the time.

            When Professor Organa removed the hat again, Hufflepuff had gained nine new members.  Finn shot her a glare.  Gryffindor had come up short with only seven.  Professor Skywalker stepped up to the podium and beamed out at them.  “This is my favorite part of every year.  Welcome to our new students and welcome back to our esteemed veterans,” the Headmaster said.  His eyes grazed over the front row where many of the prefects sat.  “I will not delay our feast long.  Just a few rules.

            “I remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to all students.”  His eyes lighted on Poe and glittered with amusement.  “It is for your protection that it is closed off and the Whomping Willow with it.  This year, the Astronomy Tower will also be closed at all times except when class is in session.  Boring points aside, let us eat.”

            With a wave of his hand, food weighed down the tables until they groaned.  Every kind of dish and delicacy populated the tables.  Everything anyone there could ever want.  The house elves had really outdone themselves this year.  Rey would be sure to tell them and thank them.  She reached for the first spoon she could find and began to ladle food onto her plate.  Always the Welcome Feast felt like a saving grace to the gnawing in her stomach.  On her first day of Hogwarts, Rey had thought she’d never seen so much food in her whole life.  Only when Rose had asked her why she ate so little did she realize that she was allowed to have as much as she wanted.

            “I started painting this year,” Eliza told Hannah as she shoveled potatoes onto her plate.  “Mum took my wand away, so I couldn’t enchant the paint anymore.”

            “Your mum’s strict,” Rose said between mouthfuls.  “What’s the harm in enchanting a bit of paint?”

            “Well, I did set it on fire a few times.”  Eliza shrugged.

            Rose and Rey exchanged glances and dropped their eyes to their plates before they could laugh.  Eliza engaged in so many experiments that they wondered how she’d ended up in Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw.  Six years on and no one had come up with a good answer.

            “Are you trying out for the Quidditch team this year, Hannah?” Rose asked.  That caught Rey’s attention.  Hannah had been toying with the idea for years.  She could fly well and occasionally dabbled in their inter-house Quidditch league as a Beater. 

            “I don’t know,” she mused.  A wicked smile crossed her face.  “Maybe I’ll go out for Seeker.”

            Rose snorted her butterbeer and started choking.  All eyes turned to Rey, who clapped her friend on the back.  She shrugged.  “Be my guest.  It’d be nice to have some competition this year.”

            Hannah wouldn’t do it, and they both knew it, if only because she didn’t have a Seeker’s build in the least.  Rey had held that position since her second year.  When Professor Kenobi had called her into his office after seeing her dodge a Slytherin twice her size and snatch his wand out of the air, she’d thought she was done for.  Instead, he’d given her the best school broom and handed her over to the seventh-year Quidditch captain.  Only in her third year did she join the starting roster after a year playing back up Seeker to a seventh-year.

            “You should go out for the team,” she urged Hannah.  “You could do it and we need lots of players this year.  Half our team graduated.  We can’t lose to Gryffindor again.  I’ll never hear the end of it.”

            Hannah nodded and seemed convinced, if only to beat Gryffindor.

            Rey finished her pudding and threw her fork down onto her plate with a contented sigh. 

            “You’re going to have to roll me to the common room,” Rose complained.  Rey smiled and tilted her face to the cloudless, starry sky overhead.  She loved the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall and the floating candles overhead.  It reminded her of the nicer parts of her childhood, lying on the roof of the orphanage with one of the little ones by her side.

            Rey got up from the table as Professor Skywalker declared the Welcome Feast over.  She strode down the aisle between the tables.  “Hufflepuffs, this way, please,” her voice rang out over the excited murmurs of her house’s table.  “First years at the front, please.”

            She reached the end of the long table and waited for the tiny first years to push their way to the front.  The other prefects joined her.  Harry Gaskell sauntered up beside her with that same stupid grin on his face.  He was the other sixth-year prefect, but she’d learned to loathe him last year when he hadn’t helped her at all.  It didn’t help his case that he’d asked her to the Yule Ball four times even after she’d said no.

            “I see you got paired with Solo,” he said by way of greeting.

            “Not now, Gaskell,” she said and turned to greet the seventh-year prefect, Ruescott Melshi, a quiet, tall boy who had always gotten on well with Rey.

            “Alright,” she announced.  “Follow me.”  The first-years stuck close to their prefects, and the rest of the house generally followed behind in a loose mass, since none of them knew the new password.  “The Hufflepuff common room is located on the bottom floor of the school.”

            “Which means we don’t have to climb all those bloody stairs like those Gryffindor and Ravenclaw pricks,” the seventh-year prefect, Joanna Weasley, chimed in with a flip of her long, red hair.  Her comment earned a smattering of appreciative laughter.

            “And that means we’re always first to dinner,” Rey added.  “Mind you, the staircases like to change.  This is the most direct route to the Common Room.”

            The portraits sprinted between the frames and waved to them as they passed.  Dumbfounded, the first years waved back.  The crowd of Hufflepuffs trotted passed an enormous painting of a cluster of pears.  Rey pointed this out to them as the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens but didn’t tell them how to get in.  If they wanted to know, she thought, they’d figure it out or ask someone who already knew.  It was only a little farther down the hall to the Hufflepuff dormitories.  She stopped before an unobtrusive pile of barrels set inside a stone recess that looked entirely ordinary in the hall along the kitchens.  The prefects all checked that no one from any other house lurked in the halls before Rey turned back to the barrels.

            “Two from the bottom, middle of the second row,” she said and pointed out the barrel to the first-years.  “Tap to the rhythm of Hel-ga Huff-le-puff.”  She demonstrated on the selected barrel and the entire collection pressed backwards and vanished to reveal a corridor.  “If you tap on the wrong barrel or get the rhythm wrong, you’ll get sprayed with vinegar, so be careful.  There’s one more thing too.  The password is ‘Unicorn Hair’ after Helga Hufflepuff’s wand.”  The shimmering golden barrier disappeared to allow them passage into the common room.  “We added that after an incident last year with a Gryffindor prank.  It changes every week or so.”

            Rey led them up the sloping path into the common room.  The light all but vanished for the barest second before they emerged in a bright room.  And Rey was home. 

            The Hufflepuff common room was a low, circular space lit by a cheery fire framed by the warm wood of the badger-carved hearth and the paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  Its circular windows sat high up on the wall and looked out on the Hogwarts grounds blanched white tonight by the moon and stars.  The swaying grasses just visible through the windows reminded them that they were halfway underground. 

            The room had long been furnished with comfortable furniture in honey-colored wood and upholstered in their signature cheery yellow and black and the occasional light green.  They had armchairs pulled close by the fire and long couches scattered throughout the room.  One of the common favorites was the circular alcove taken up completely by a round couch covered in pillows.  A few of the fourth years broke free of the pack and claimed it for themselves already.  Other tables held games and cards for them to share and bookcases covered an entire wall.  The elder Hufflepuffs who could afford it left their old textbooks there for the next generation. 

            Small, circular shelves pressed into the smoothed stone walls held various plants.  The cacti waved at the new first years and danced in their pots.  Greenery hung close to the ceiling and tendrils spilled over and dangled to face level, brushing them slightly as they passed beneath them.  Rey waved to the toasting portrait of Helga Hufflepuff displayed over the hearth, who greeted her new house members with a wide smile.

            “Welcome to your common room,” Rey said and gestured to the warm room behind her.  “This space, as you might imagine, is common to everyone in Hufflepuff house.  You may bring friends here from other houses but take care that they do not know how to enter without you, and they will need to return before curfew, which is at ten on weekdays, midnight on weekends.”  She glanced around and wondered how many of these first-years would try to stay up until midnight tonight and fail within the hour.  “Curfew is monitored by prefects and the head students, so don’t be caught out late.”

            She continued along the normal speech given to new first-years.  “While you’re here, your house will be like your family.  If you need help in anything, don’t hesitate to ask a prefect or another student.  Positive actions in the school, like answering questions in class or winning Quidditch matches, will earn our house points.  Disciplinary actions will lose us points.  At the end of the year, whichever house has the most points wins the House Cup.”  She bit her lip and tried to remember what else she needed to tell them.  “Schedules of classes will be handed out tomorrow at breakfast.”  That was news to some older Hufflepuffs as well.  “As first years, your classes are chosen for you, so don’t worry about that.”

            “Quidditch tryouts are next week, but first-years can’t join the team,” Shar Malbus, the seventh-year Quidditch captain drawled from where he’d sprawled out on a couch.  “The rest of you lot, though.  Unless you want to go out for Seeker, then don’t bother.”  Rey winced.  “I’m just kidding.  I need a back-up in case Niima gets hit by a bludger again.”

            “For Merlin’s sake, Malbus.  Shut it.  We can talk about Quidditch practice tomorrow,” she snapped.  Shar Malbus lived and breathed Quidditch.  His cousin, Baze, had been a decent Beater in his time at Hogwarts too and had even had a good run on Puddlemere United.  He ran the Hogshead now.  “Did I get everything important?” she asked Melshi, because he was the only one who could really be trusted.

            He thought for a moment.  “Don’t go into the Forbidden Forest.  Don’t let us lose the House Cup to Gryffindor again.  Um, all your owls are in the owlery.  All your sh…I mean, trunks are in your rooms.”

            “Right, yeah.  We’ll show you to your dormitories now,” she said.  “If there’s anything else…oh, Professor Kenobi’s here.”  The genial old man emerged from the earthen tunnel and beamed at the new Hufflepuffs.  “Right, everyone, this is your Head of House.”

            “So many new faces,” he said and grinned over his white beard.  His sharp eyes darted over Rey and slid to the other prefects.  “I see you’re getting a proper introduction.  Welcome to the esteemed Hufflepuff House.  Don’t let anyone tell you it’s anything besides esteemed.  Helga Hufflepuff was the best of us.  Here, we work hard, treat others fairly, and tolerate differences.  We are an example to our other schoolmates in these divisive and difficult times.  Here, you’ll find family and true friends.”

            The first-years gazed up at him with wide eyes.  Ben Kenobi had fame in his own right.  He had fought alongside Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa in the first war and had trained them in their own magic.  Outside Hogwarts’ hallowed halls, he was a bit of a legend.  He almost never left the school anymore, rumor had it, even in the summer.  Some said he stayed all summer to take care of his greenhouses, some said he protected the school itself.  She had never asked him which it was, if either.

            “I see I’ve interrupted the great tour of the dormitories.  Lead on, Ms. Niima.  Lead on.”  He gave her a wide smile.  He’d confided in her years ago that the Welcome Feast was his favorite day of the year.

            “Right.  Well, girls, follow me.  Boys will go with Melshi to see your dormitories,” she said.  The four first-year girls herded close to her, although they already seemed to gravitate around one with taut, long braids.  Two earthen halls branched off the common room like a warren, and Rey led them towards the one on the left.  It sloped ever so slightly upwards.  Round doors embedded in the walls led to each dorm.  Theirs was only the second one along the hall, the one that had belonged to last year’s seventh years.  She missed them already.  These doors—well, the whole common room, really—always reminded her of what she imagined a hobbit hole looked like.

            “Here’s your dorm.  You’ll find all of your things already inside,” Rey said and opened the door to reveal four four-poster beds complete with patchwork quilts and circular windows between each of them.  Nothing hung on the walls, although a few plants sat on various shelves.  It was odd to see the room so bare when just a few months ago it had been covered in pictures and posters from the seventh-years.  Four trunks sat neatly at the ends of the beds.  “You can swap around if you want.  No one cares.”

            The girls entered their new room in a daze.  Some of them had probably never had so much space to themselves.  Yellow hangings poured from the corners of the beds that could be drawn closed at night.

            “Have everything you need?” Rey asked when none of them said anything.  All four huddled near the center of the room. 

The small, dark girl with all the braids was the first to move.  She climbed up a trunk and onto the bed.  Theodosia, that was her name.  Theodosia Nott.  Usually a Slytherin family, although this girl didn’t seem to care.  “This one’s mine,” she declared.  Indeed, a trunk emblazoned T.A.N. stood at its end.  “Well, come on, then.  Thanks, miss, we’ve got everythin’ now.”

“It’s Rey,” she answered with a smile.  “I’m at the top of the hall if you need anything.  It’s getting close to ten so stay in the common room tonight.”

She glanced over her shoulder once more as she closed the door behind her.  All four girls had claimed their beds, although two had swapped theirs and were dragging their trunks to their new places.  They’ll do okay, she thought, with a girl like Theodosia at their head.  At least the room didn’t look too small with only four beds.  The last group had been eight strong.

Rey wondered if one day there wouldn’t be any at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter's a little rough. It's been a tough week. But thank you for reading anyway! Next chapter will be posted on Saturday and will feature some Quidditch and run-ins with rogue Slytherins. Don't worry, we'll be getting more of Ben and Rey soon :)


	4. When Snakes Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day back at Hogwarts and they don't even have classes. Warning: lots of Quidditch talk ahead. Enjoy!

            The sun rose early over Hogwarts, but Rey had already awoken.  Excitement bubbled in her stomach as she laced her beat-up Converse.  Freedom.  Hogwarts buzzed with the sense of freedom.  Rose and her other roommates slept on in the half-light of dawn as Rey snatched up her broomstick and slipped out.  No one stirred in the common room either.  Classes didn’t start until tomorrow and none of the students bothered to get up before breakfast when there was nothing to do.

            Rey shoved her way out of the main doors of the school and a breeze ruffled her messy hair.  She’d be back before breakfast to help Professor Kenobi distribute schedules, but she had hours before then.  As soon as her feet crunched on the pavement around the school, she threw her leg over her broom and shot into the air.

            The wind sang in her ears.  The ground fell away with the lift in her chest that brushed off the last weight of the summer.  Her poor broom had been locked away in a cupboard at Hogwarts and protected with charms after an agreement between Professors Skywalker, Organa, and Kenobi, since she had nowhere to store it in the orphanage, and it would have been difficult to explain why she’d hidden a broom so obviously not for sweeping.  She ran her hands along its smooth surface.  She wouldn’t have had her Millennium VII at all if it wasn’t for Professor Kenobi, who really had a very competitive streak when it came to Quidditch.  Of course, he’d never owned up to giving her such a thing.  It would be too blatant an act of favoritism. 

             Rey circled around the Gryffindor Tower and admired the way the colors of the sunrise glanced over the Black Lake.  Hogwarts was the most picturesque place she’d ever seen.  For good measure, she circled around the Ravenclaw Tower too.  She stopped her broom in midair to adjust her sweater around her neck against the chill of the morning.  The winter promised to be a brutal one if it was already this cold in September.  Pure joy flooded through her at the exhilaration of flying again. 

            The Quidditch Pitch.  That’s where she’d go, since she’d already gotten the wonderful feeling of the wind against her face out of her system.  She needed the practice of flying and dodging around the stands.  Almost everyone else on the four house teams came from wizarding families, at least half-blooded if not full, and had probably spent all summer flying.  There was no way she’d be outdone by some pureblooded wizard with his head up his ass.

            She steered herself towards the Quidditch Pitch and pressed her body nearly horizontal until she could fit cleanly through one of the hoops.  Up, up, up and around the stands fluttering with the faded fabric of last year’s season she flew.  Rey always flew close to the loose sheets to practice dodging through them in the wind.  Somehow, the snitch seemed to always end up among them at a crucial moment of the match.  Plus, she liked the feeling of banking close to stands.  Up to the very top of the stands and then down until she almost plowed straight into the ground.  She pulled up just before the crash and sped upwards to try that move again.

            A hot flash of light whizzed in her peripheral vision and her cheek burned.  She rolled to avoid the next one and spotted the source on the ground.  _Slytherins_.  Her wand was in her hand before she knew to reach for it.  She cast a shield charm around herself to deflect any more of their attacks and dropped lower so she could spot who had decided to disturb her morning.

            “Get off the pitch, mudblood,” one of them spat at her.  Krennic.  The worst of the Slytherins.  Only in Slytherin could he be mistaken for someone worthy of the prefect position.  And Quidditch captain on top of that.  She slowed her broom to a stop and hovered about ten feet over their heads.  Krennic, Sloane, and Solo stood on the previously empty pitch, brooms in hand.

            “I didn’t know you’d reserved it,” she mused.  Sloane shot a messy curse at her, which would have missed her anyway but rebounded off her shield. 

            “We don’t have to reserve it.  There are three of us and one of you.  Scum like you doesn’t belong in Quidditch anyway—or at Hogwarts for that matter.”  It seemed they were going to let Krennic do the talking.  The burn on her cheek smarted.

            Rey shrugged and did a lazy roll on her broom just to irritate them.  Solo still hadn’t said anything.  What a great year this was going to be.  “It’s cute that you think you’re going to win the Quidditch Cup this year.  Especially with _that_ lump on your team.” 

            She eyed Sloane with obvious disgust, and the girl gripped her wand so hard it almost snapped.  “What do you know about it, mudblood?  Like Hufflepuff knows what a win feels like.  What did we beat you by last year…sixty points?”  Krennic spat.

            She wouldn’t let him get to her and boil her blood.  She grinned at him.  “And what did Gryffindor beat _you_ by?  A hundred?  Oh, no, that’s right.  A hundred and twenty.”

            “Maybe they’ll do half as well this year.  That is, if their captain can ever pull himself away from a mirror,” Solo spoke up for the first time. 

            “You’re one to talk, Solo.  Between you and your dear Hux, I think you go through a bottle of gel a day.”  He grimaced at her.  “Lucky for you, I’m just going to breakfast.  Enjoy the pitch.  You know, if Slone can even get off the ground today.”

            Rey shot off towards the castle before any of them could think about sending too many curses her way.  First day back at Hogwarts and already those bloody Slytherins wouldn’t leave her be.  Her eyes stung with tears as she landed and dragged her broom back to her dorm.  The other girls had left by that point, except for Sandra, who was still buried up to her forehead in her quilt.  She went to meet them in the Great Hall.

            “Bloody hell, what happened to your face?” Finn asked.  Poe dropped his toast at the sight of her. 

            “Slytherins,” she groused.  “Finn, you got something for this?”

            “Hold still,” he said and grabbed her chin to keep her from moving.  He cast a spell on her face, which would have really caused her to balk three years ago, but Finn had been training to become an auror and practiced a lot of field medicine.  A cooling, tingling sensation spread across her face.  Rose handed her a compact mirror, and she saw that the angry, blistered skin had faded to a dull red.

            “And what are you _wearing_?” Rose asked, picking at a hole in the bumblebee-colored sweater she wore over her tight Quidditch pants.  Rey looked down at it and frowned.

            “What’s wrong with it?”

            “Rey,” Finn said gently.  “It’s got holes all in it.”

            She shrugged.  It hadn’t occurred to her to change before heading to breakfast.  It wasn’t as if she was going to class in her holey sweater.  “I went out on my broom.  I wasn’t going to wear my nice sweater.  That’s for real Quidditch.”

            Rose rolled her eyes and shrugged.  None of her friends had bothered with school robes that morning either, just as most of the other students hadn’t.  Except first years.  She should have mentioned that they didn’t have to wear their school robes at all times on Hogwarts grounds.  Poor kids probably slept in them.

            Rey dished several crumpets onto her plate.  Poe and Finn had already gone through a full plate of eggs and bacon each and helped themselves to another.  Her stomach growled after her morning flight.  She’d have to start running again and soon, to get in shape for Quidditch season.  Rose shot her glances out of the corner of her eye.  She knew she looked a mess with the half-healed blistered burn on her cheek and her hair sticking up in all directions but couldn’t bring herself to care. 

            “Ms. Niima,” Professor Kenobi said from behind her.  She spun around with a mouthful of crumpet and wiped the jam from her lips hurriedly.  “Would you mind helping me pass out class schedules?”

            She swallowed too early and winced.  “Of course, professor.”

            “Oh dear, what happened to your face?”

            “It’s nothing, professor,” she answered hurriedly and half-hoped he would take her word for it.  No such luck.  He eyed the mark on her cheek.

            “Really?  It looks like a Blister Hex.”  He raised his eyebrows.

            “Just a misunderstanding over the Quidditch Pitch.  You know how people get.  The schedules, sir?”  She held out her hand and hoped he would take the hint and move on.

            He gave her another long look before separating out a few stacks.  “First-years, sixth-years, and seventh-years.  I trust you can see those home safely.  Do take care of yourself now, Ms. Niima.  We’ll need you on the Quidditch Pitch soon.”

            “Why didn’t you tell him who cursed you?” Rose asked as their Head of House walked back down the aisle.  How he’d spotted her in the crowd, she didn’t know, since she’d sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast.  Although the bright yellow sweater may have had something to do with it.

            “If I’m going to be working with Solo this year, there’s no sense in losing him house points to start with,” she reasoned.

            “So, it _was_ Solo who cursed you.  That bloody bastard, I’ll…” Poe started, but Rey cut him off.

            “I can handle him myself, thanks.  And no, it wasn’t Solo.  I couldn’t really say if it was Krennic or Sloane, since I didn’t see who fired the curse.  Sloane was a little trigger happy this morning, but Krennic was positively frothing.”  She almost laughed at the memory.  He tended to spit when he got angry.

            “Are you _sure_ it wasn’t Solo?” Poe asked.  Rey thought he just wanted a reason to get into a duel with the Slytherin.  Not that she was objecting.  It would be a rocky start to their semester if he thought she’d put Poe up to it though.

            “I’m sure.  Solo was the only one who didn’t draw his wand,” she said, distracted by sorting through the schedules.  She put hers and Rose’s at the end of the stack.  “I’ll save these for later.  I want to look at them together.  You two can’t look at yours!”

            Rose frowned at her and tried to snatch the schedule out of her hands, but she moved down the table, laughing.  The first-years were easy to find, all huddled up together at the Hufflepuff table.  She handed them each their schedules and promised to help them find their classes once they’d looked them all over.  Only about half of the sixth-years were there at all.  Most of them only glanced at their schedules before shoving them in their pockets and returning to breakfast.  She hoped they would at least keep them.  The seventh-years were only slightly more enthused, but that seemed to be over the idea that this was their last schedule ever.

            “Here, Rose,” she handed her eager friend her schedule and sat down to look at hers too. 

            “Poe looked at his,” Finn said as soon as she sat down.  Poe kicked him under the table and made Finn swear so loudly that Professor Organa frowned at him from the Headmasters’ table. 

            “Whatever.  I don’t care what classes he has anyway,” Rey said as she looked over hers.  Rose shifted between reading over her shoulder and matching it up with her own schedule.  “Rose, you know we’ll have the main classes together.”

            “You’re still taking Ancient Runes?” Finn groaned.  “Gross.”

            Rey rolled her eyes.  “You know I’m taking Ancient Runes.  I have to do NEWTS in it.”

            “Yeah but…gross.  Hey, we have Herbology together,” he pointed to the spot on her schedule.  Herbology was still a popular class for NEWT levels and she wasn’t sure they would have the same class.  It also wasn’t mandatory to become a Cursebreaker, but Rey thought there was something to herbal solutions, especially if she entered the field of Cursebreaking that dealt with complex curses placed on living things.

            Rose wrinkled her nose.  “I’m not taking Herbology anymore.”

            “Merlin’s beard, Rose, what _are_ you taking?” Rey asked.

            “Defense, Charms, Transfiguration,” she listed off at once.  “Umm…shit.  Potions.  I hate Potions.  Alchemy…”

            “They’re offering Alchemy this year?” Poe asked and leaned across the table to catch sight of her schedule.  “I want to take that.”

            “Don’t you have enough to take for Auror training, Poe?” Rey asked.

            “Well, yeah, but Alchemy…”

            Rose ignored him.  “And Muggle Studies.”

            “Why are you taking Muggle Studies?” Finn asked her.

            Rose shrugged.  “Professor Kenobi recommended it for me since Metal-Charmers have to work with Muggle artifacts sometimes and consult with the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.”

            “So, we’ll have…” Finn thought it out.  “Defense, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration all together?”

            Rey consulted his schedule over his shoulder and compared it with hers.  Like Poe, Finn had begun working on his abilities for his Auror application, although he had made significantly more progress in his skills than Poe, who seemed determined to rely on his father’s name to get in.  “We all have Potions together.  Probably not enough to make two classes for NEWTS.  Shit, that’ll mean the Slytherins too,” she said.  “Yep, we have Defense with all houses.  Charms with the Ravenclaws, though.  And Transfiguration with the Slytherins.”

            “Only two classes all together,” Poe complained.  “That sucks bloody balls.”

            “Language, please, Mr. Dameron,” Professor Organa said as she passed behind them.  Poe turned to greet her with a wide smile.  “We couldn’t very well put the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors together for every class.”

            “Good morning, Professor Organa,” Rey said.

            “And a fine day to you too, Ms. Niima.  Enjoy your Sunday off.”  She nodded to the other students around them and walked off.

            “What else do you have, Rey?” Finn asked when Professor Organa had moved on down the table.

            She consulted her schedule again.  It always took her a few tries to memorize it.  “Defense, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Ancient Runes.  I think that’s all this year.  I’ll have Quidditch and Professor Kenobi has promised me some dueling lessons if he has time.”

            “Dueling with Professor Kenobi?” Poe dropped his schedule to listen.  “Can we join in on that?  Mum says he was the best in his day.”

            “You’ll have to ask him yourself, nosy.  Don’t ruin it for me, though,” Rey answered.  “Who knows if he’ll even have time?”

            “We’re never going to have any time together this year,” Rose complained.  Hannah and Eliza joined them and slid into seats beside Rose, bringing their new schedules with them.  Rose was distracted by comparing their classes.

            “I need to schedule Quidditch tryouts,” Poe muttered to Finn.  Rey propped her chin on her hand and leaned in to listen.

            “Oh, really, Dameron?  And when will that be?” she asked.

            He glared at her.  “Don’t even think about it, Niima.  I’ll hex you from my broom.”

            Rey snorted.  “Like you’d hit me.”  Poe would be too distracted by Quidditch to give a single thought to who was in the stands.  Luckily for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Jyn was much more attentive and had an effective hex for any student from another house who tried to spy on their new recruits.  Despite this, at least one other house would try.  She had her money on the Ravenclaws this year.

            Rey wouldn’t try, though.  There was little advantage in spying on the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts, since Poe would be sure to gush about his new recruits later and she knew virtually every Quidditch player in Hogwarts from their illicit inter-house league.  She didn’t _need_ to spy on him when he’d just blurt everything out willingly.  Poe remained blissfully unaware of her plan. 

            “Change that sweater and we’ll go down to the lake,” Rose urged.  “You too,” she shot at Finn and Poe. 

            Rey couldn’t disagree with that.  Hannah and Eliza waved goodbye to them and tucked into their respective breakfasts.  In only a few minutes, Rey and her friends strolled out through the front doors and into the sunlight.  And straight into the glares of her three Slytherin friends.  All three sneered at the Muggle t-shirt and jeans she’d changed into and her friends around her.

            “Nice face, Mudblood,” Sloane snarled.  Rey nudged Finn and Poe, so they would keep moving and not do something reckless with their drawn wands.

            “I’d say jealousy doesn’t suit you, Sloane, but I’d be lying,” she answered with a sweet smile.  She gave Poe and Finn’s stationary backs a none too gentle shove and passed by the sweaty Slytherins.  Her friends only relaxed when they got down to the lake, as if they’d worried that the snakes would chase them down.  “Oh, sit _down_ , Poe.”  She tugged on the cuff of his pants.  “They’re gone.”

            “I’ll hex his smug face off,” Poe growled but did sit down in the grass.

            Rey’s brow creased.  “Whose face?”

            “Solo’s,” he snapped.  She rolled her eyes.  Poe and Ben Solo had been at each other’s throats since day one, when Poe had discovered that the new, quiet Slytherin could fly as well or better than him.  Solo had quickly demonstrated how vocal he could be about his new rival.  Better and better, this year.

            “He didn’t even say anything, Poe,” Finn said.  “Sloane’s the loud mouth.  Always is.”

            He wasn’t wrong.  Sloane ran her mouth almost as much as Krennic did his wand.  It didn’t help that Finn’s aunt had married Sloane’s father and that he was a common target of his cousin’s vitriol.  She wasn’t overly creative in her insults, not like Phasma who could hit bone in a split second.  As a result, Rey respected Phasma more than Rachel Sloane.  At least she could keep up.

            “Can we just forget about Slytherins?” Rose huffed and flopped back onto the grass.  Rey agreed with her whole heart.  Why think about rotten Slytherins and stupid rounds partners when the sun was so warm on her face and the lake lapped so nicely on the shore?  The whole of the Hogwarts grounds opened around them.

            “When are you holding Quidditch tryouts?” Poe asked her instead and Rose groaned.  Rey bantered with them about teams and players and who was going to win the Quidditch Cup this year (Hufflepuff).

            “Rose might hex us,” Finn said with a grin.  “When are we reviving the League?”

            The Inter-house Quidditch League.  One of the best ideas they’d ever had.  It had been Finn’s idea at first, but Poe had run away with it.  Most of the half- or pure-blooded students had grown up playing Quidditch, but only seven from each house could play on the official teams.  And so, the Inter-house League was born.  Anyone could play and teams from mixed houses were all but mandatory.

            “We’ve had some interest in Hufflepuff already,” Rey said.  At least four of last year’s members had pulled her aside to ask about it.  “Will the Gryffindors come back this year?”

            Poe nodded.  “Jyn already threatened me over it.”

            Rey wrinkled her nose.  Jyn and the team Bodhi had dubbed ‘Rogue One’ had narrowly beaten their team last year in the mock final.  She was still bitter over it.  Most of Rogue One didn’t even play on house teams, but they worked together so well that they were almost unstoppable. 

            “Do we have a keeper this year?” she asked instead.  They’d lost theirs last year to an injury in an actual Quidditch game, and their replacement had cost them the final.

            Poe frowned.  “Busby’s volunteered again.”  Finn and Rey began to protest at once.  “I shut that down already.  He lost us one final too many.  I’ll see who I can recruit.  You’re up for Chaser again, right?”

            Rey nodded.  Their inter-house league played without snitches because they always played at night, so they could at least pretend the professors didn’t know about it.  They’d played the first matches with snitches and seekers until one of the second-years chased a wayward snitch into the Forbidden Forest and they’d all had to go in wands drawn to get him back.  After that, they played six per team and set either a point cap or time limit as the mood struck them.  So, Rey gave up her usual role of Seeker to play Chaser alongside Finn and Poe.  Cassian Andor, the Slytherin seeker, did the same on Rogue One.

            “I’ll convince Hannah to play Beater,” she said.

            “Paige might play the other Beater,” Rose offered.  “She’ll need to work off some frustration this year.”

            “It’ll be weird next year without Jyn and Cassian and Bodhi and Paige,” Rey mused, cushioning her head on her hands and watching the clouds drift across the clear sky.

            Poe groaned.  “You can’t get sentimental yet.  It’s not even January.  We have a whole year until then,” Poe complained.  She knew it was only because he didn’t want to think about it yet.  His elder brother, Kes Dameron, was a seventh-year Hufflepuff and would also graduate.

            “When’s the first Hogsmeade weekend?” Rose changed the subject.  “I can’t wait.”

            “Last weekend of September,” Rey and Finn answered at the same time.

            “Damn.  I want more butterbeer already,” Rose muttered.  They nodded in agreement.

            “I have Firewhiskey,” Poe offered.

            Rey rolled her eyes at her friend.  “We have classes tomorrow,” she reminded them.  “And it’s not even Quidditch yet.”

            “Spoil sport,” Poe said.

            “Goody two shoes,” Rose added.

            “Save it ‘til Thursday,” she continued.  “I’ll need it after rounds with Solo.”

            “But we have classes on Friday,” Finn said in a terrible approximation of her voice.

            “Double Potions with Tarkin and the Slytherins.  Yeah, I’ll take the Firewhiskey,” she answered.

            “Ooo, look at our little prefect breaking the rules,” Poe said and jabbed her in the side.  They broke down laughing in the grass under the bright morning sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who have bookmarked, left kudos, and commented (I'm still getting to those, promise)! This fic has been in progress for a long time and it warms my heart that others are enjoying it as well. Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday!


	5. A Shadow on Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of classes arrives, but are Slytherins the biggest worry anymore?

“Okay,” Rey said with her hands on her hips once they’d finally managed to wrangle all the first-years with their robes and all their materials.  It was the first official day of classes and the first-years shifted nervously around her.  “Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Pay attention because I’m not doing this all year.”

            She led them out of the Hufflepuff common room.  The hallways were crammed with students of all houses running from breakfast to their first classes.  First-years wandered through the practiced crowd of older students with wide, panicked eyes.  Rey snatched up any first-year Ravenclaws she spotted and, by the time she reached the DADA classroom, had a sizeable crowd behind her.  Leave it to the rest of the houses to abandon their firsties to navigate the castle alone.  Finn and Poe had probably gotten up late and forgotten.

            Professor Organa waved to her as she propped open the door and shepherded in most of her class.

            “Ten points to Hufflepuff!” she called, and Rey beamed. 

            “Mudbloods really do reproduce fast, don’t they?  Like bunnies,” someone mocked.  She let the door fall shut and her smile died as she turned to face Solo’s sneer.

            “A little far out of your hole, aren’t you?” she snapped and turned on her heel to stalk away from him.  He kept up with her easily with his long stride.  “Don’t you have anyone else to bother?”

            “As it happens,” Solo answered smoothly, unruffled by her irritation.  “I don’t.  See, no one worthwhile is in Ancient Runes.”  She cursed.  She’d forgotten he had that class with her.  Though how she could have forgotten his pestering from last year, she didn’t know.  “Now, now, princess, watch your language.  Those kinds of words don’t suit Hufflepuff’s Golden Girl.”

            She made a gesture that showed him exactly what she thought of that.  “Fuck off, Solo.”

            “I thought you’d try to be more civil this year, considering we’re rounds partners,” he answered, undaunted by her spite.

            “I’m so glad you think so.  You can start by not calling me ‘Mudblood’.  I have a few other suggestions too.  I’m so glad you’re turning over a new leaf,” Rey said brightly.

            He frowned as if this conversation had not gone the way he’d planned.  “But you _are_ a Mudblood.  You can’t fault me for pointing out the truth.”

            Well, at least he was consistent.  “And you’re an arrogant prick who doesn’t care about anyone but yourself.  But hey, at least I can’t change my dirty blood.  You can’t fault me for telling the truth,” she finished with acid sweetness in her voice.

            “So, you acknowledge your blood status,” he pressed.

            She actually laughed.  Of course, he fixated on that.  “Well, sure, I have Muggle parents.  Sue me.”

            They reached the Ancient Runes classroom and whatever response he had died into silence upon their arrival.  Thankfully.  Rey sent him one last withering glare and went to sit by Paige.  The Ancient Runes class was small, and they’d combined the sixth- and seventh-year classes because of it.  Professor Kenobi smiled at her as she took her seat.  Solo saw away from everyone else.  Shocking.  None of his stupid Slytherin cronies had made it into the NEWT level it seemed.

            Paige leaned over as she pulled out her book.  “Are you and Solo actually getting on now?”

            Rey snorted.  “Hardly.  He followed me from the Defense classroom.  Merlin knows why.  Just to bother me, I think.”

            Paige gave her a sympathetic look.  “I’m sorry you’re stuck with him.  Really.”

            She shrugged.  She understood Paige’s logic.  “Krennic is worse,” she said, her mind sliding back to yesterday.  Her cheek still bore an angry red mark.

            Professor Kenobi stood and they both fell silent to listen to his introduction.  Solo slouched in his chair.  She half-hoped he wouldn’t pay attention and would fail out by Christmas Break.  There wasn’t much hope for that.  They’d competed all last semester for the top grade, and Rey had solidly been him in their OWLs, which could explain why he had redoubled his efforts to humiliate her.  She tried to focus on Professor Kenobi and pushed Solo out of her mind.  What did he matter anyway?

            “You’ll have no problem in your NEWTs if we’re doing all that this year,” Paige said as they left.  Solo breezed passed her and knocked her shoulder with his.

            “Prick,” she hissed.  “Yeah, I almost wish I could take the NEWTs this year.  One less for next year.  But Kenobi said I can’t.”  Professor Kenobi had given them a stack of runes to decipher for Wednesday’s class.  “Catch you later, Paige.”

            Back up to Defense.  At least she shared that class with her friends.  And bloody Solo again.  But he had swept down the hall ahead of her with his robes billowing out behind him. 

            Not that she kept track of Solo.  But if she did, it was only for her own protection.  He had, on occasion, tried to hex her.

            Rey slid into the free desk beside Poe, with Rose and Finn in the set of desks on her other side.  Impatient, she swept the hair back from her eyes.  Solo had, of course, beaten her to the classroom and sat with Phasma.  She was glad that Hux either hadn’t made it into Professor Organa’s NEWT class or had chosen not to take it.  Solo had his textbook out on his desk already and had opened it to the first chapter.  Bloody prick was just trying to show off in his mum’s class.  But Rey would not be outdone.  Not by the likes of Ben Bloody Solo.

            Beside her, Poe jiggled his leg and watched the door that led through to Professor Organa’s office.  Defense was without a doubt his favorite class and the only one in which Rey could honestly say that he tried.

            “How was Care of Magical Creatures?” she asked him.  He, Finn, and Rose had all chosen to take it despite not needing it for any career options simply because of Professor Chewbacca, affectionately called Chewie by students and professors alike.  In fact, Rey had never heard anyone call the enormous, hairy man anything besides Chewie.  She didn’t even know his first name or if he had one.

            “Oh!” Poe’s face brightened.  “It was great.  We’re studying hippogriffs first.  Chewie was sad that you’re not taking his class, but I explained to him that it conflicted with Ancient Runes.  He said to come by for tea and to tell you hullo.” 

            Rey smiled to herself.  She met Chewie when she ran into him on her way to the boats with the other first-years.  Literally, ran into him and would have toppled over backwards if he hadn’t caught her shoulders.  They’d been friends ever since.

            “We’ll all have to go this weekend,” she said.  “I’m sure he’ll want to hear about our summers all together.”

            “What do you think we’ll be learning in Defense this year?” Poe asked her with shining eyes.  Professor Organa was Poe’s favorite teacher.  Sure, Rey looked up to the cunning witch, but Poe _idolized_ her.  Although, he’d decided to apply to the Auror office instead of into another department of the Ministry of Magic.  Maybe he’d eventually run for office too.

            Rey shrugged.  She hadn’t given their syllabus much thought.  Professor Organa always taught interesting classes.  “Patronuses?” she guessed.

            If possible, Poe’s face lit up even more.  “You really think so?  That’s really advanced magic.  I guess we do have to learn it for NEWTs, but I didn’t know if we’d get to it this year or start next year.  What do you think yours will be?  What about mine?  I hope it’s a lion…”

            He rambled on about Patronuses for a while, and Rey tried to listen, she really did.  It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in Patronuses.  She was.  Very much so.  She wanted to know what form hers would take and had already decided to start practicing early if it really was on the curriculum for this year. 

            Poe only fell silent when Professor Organa flung open the door to her office and marched down to her desk.  The entire room fell silent, even the Slytherins.  All students stared up at their professor expectantly.

            Professor Organa was not only a famous witch, she was also known around Hogwarts for teaching one of the best classes in the school.  The Headmaster himself had previously held her position, but it was rumored that even he admitted she taught a better class.  All students had to take DADA until their fifth year, but Professor Organa was selective about the students she let into her NEWT class, which resulted in the smattering of sixth-years from all houses seated before her.  Rey was just glad that she and her three friends had made the cut.

            “Good morning, class,” her voice rang out across the stone room.  Although she was a small woman, Professor Organa cut an imposing figure at the head of the class.  “Welcome to NEWT-level Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Congratulations to you all for your excellent performances on the OWLs.  I am very proud of all of my students.”

            She looked out at them with a stately smile.  “You probably think yourselves experts in Defense Against the Dark Arts by now.  I’m here to tell you that you are nowhere near it.  Your OWL-levels were mere primers.  You all have a lot to learn if you are to be successful in this field.  Now,” she waved her wand and pieces of parchment landed neatly before each student.  “Let us review our course of study for the semester.  I want to evaluate where you all are and see how we progress before I decide on our studies for the spring.

            “The most important thing we will be learning this year is how to cast silent spells.  Silent spells will be used in all of your classes that require the use of magic and spellwork and will probably be reviewed most completely in Charms.  However,” she continued, pacing back and forth at the front of the room with her hands clasped behind her back.  “They are the most important in this class.  Can anyone tell me why?”

            A few hands shot up, including Rey’s.  Professor Organa called on Connix in the first row.  “Because when facing an opponent, the element of surprise can make all the difference.”

            “Excellent.  Two points to Ravenclaw,” Professor Organa said.  “Miss Connix is correct.  When facing an opponent, especially in a combat situation, a silent spell can mean the difference between life and death.  Since this is the case, we will be beginning with silent Shielding Charms and moving on to silent Disarming spells, after a brief review of your offensive and defensive magical skills from your OWL-levels.  This term, we will also be covering more dark creatures like Inferi, Dementors, and Banshees as well as how to defend against them.  We will also be learning some new spells, like the Patronus Charm.”

            Gasps echoed around the room, and Professor Organa waited for the chattering to subside with some amusement.  Poe turned to Rey with a wide smile on his face and she couldn’t help but grin back.  “Quiet, please.”  The room fell silent once again, but expectation hung in the air.  “Since you are preparing for your NEWT exam, we will also be delving into the world of Unforgivable Curses.  Don’t get ahead of yourselves, though.  No student at Hogwarts is ever to cast an Unforgivable Curse on castle grounds.  _Ever_.”  She glared out at her students and dared them to challenge her.  Rey wasn’t sure, but she thought her eyes lingered on her son amongst the Slytherins a moment longer than necessary.  “These are the most dangerous curses available to wizards and are not to be taken lightly.”

            “But, enough of that for now.  Stow your books and parchment in your bags, wands out, and up, up!”  The class scrambled to do as she said and stood from their desks.  With a wave of her want, Professor Organa scattered the desks and their things to the sides of the room.  “I imagine you’ll hear a lot of talking this week and not get to do much at all.  So, pair up.  Take out your wands.  One row on this side of the classroom, one on the other.”  She indicated where on the floor with glowing golden lines.  “Practice disarming spells.  Disarming _only_.  Don’t shield for now, just get back into the rhythm.”

            Rey and Poe paired up since they’d been sitting together anyway.  Rose stood beside her with Finn on the other side.  A ways down the line, she spotted Connix across from Hannah Kent and Solo paired with Phasma.  Rey readied her wand.

            “Begin when ready.  Do take care not to step on any wands that may find their way to the floor,” Professor Organa announced from the front of the room.

            For a moment, no one moved.  Everyone waited for someone to be brave enough to cast the first spell.  Finally, Connix called _Expelliarmus!_ and Hannah’s wand flew out of her hand.  Her fellow Hufflepuff laughed and reached down to scoop it up.  Once the first spell was cast, jets of red light flew across the room with abandon.  Rey disarmed Poe before he could call out his own spell first.  He pulled a face at her and knelt to pick up his wand.

            “Armstrong,” Professor Organa’s voice rang out over their heads.  “I said _disarm_ only.  That was not an _Expelliarmus_.”

            Everyone paused to look at the Ravenclaw Armstrong, who flushed profusely and muttered apologies to his Head of House, before returning to their mock-duel.  Just when Rey was beginning to get bored of shooting disarming spells back and forth and had begun to attempt to cast one silently, Professor Organa instructed them to add shielding spells as well.  At least she wouldn’t have to keep crouching to pick up her fallen wand.

            “ _Protego!_ ” she called as Poe cast an unexpected disarming spell at her.  His red jet of light rebounded harmlessly off her shield.

            “Excellent Shield Charm, Miss Niima,” Professor Organa said as she passed behind her.  She had taken to walking behind her students and observing their progress.  “And a superb _Expelliarmus_ , Mr. Dameron.”

            Rey beamed at her mentor’s praise and fired her own disarming spell back at Poe.  He was too distracted by Professor Organa’s praise to block in time and his wand went careening into Finn’s head beside him.  Finn frowned at Poe and therefore missed Rose’s _Expelliarmus_ and lost his own wand.  Rey laughed and high-fived her friend. 

            They left class when the bells tolled across Hogwarts.  Rey threw her messenger bag over one shoulder and fell into step beside Finn.  He and Poe were still bickering about Poe’s wand hitting him in the head.  Rey tucked her own wand behind her ear and quickened her steps to keep up with her friends.

            The Great Hall had begun to fill with students fresh from class when they arrived.  They were too hungry to bother with dropping their things off in their dorms before class.  Rey consulted her schedule and saw that she had double Herbology in the afternoon with Poe and Finn also.  She hadn’t realized that she would have Professor Kenobi twice in one day before now. 

            She had begun to dish food onto her plate and ignore her friends’ ongoing bickering when a screech from above made her pause.  Sunlight streamed in through the wide windows that soared along the wall of the Great Hall, so she had to squint to see.  A legion of owls came swooping in and landed along the tables. 

            “That’s odd,” she said as her friends looked up too.  “The post came this morning, didn’t it?”  All the owls seemed to be carrying a rolled-up newspaper.  “And the Prophet?”

            Poe and Rose confirmed that they had each gotten a copy of the Prophet that morning.  Nevertheless, an unfamiliar owl dropped down before her two friends and they eagerly unwound a thin copy of the Prophet from it.  Rey looked over Rose’s shoulder to read the front page and she saw Finn across the table do the same with Poe.  She couldn’t afford a subscription to the Prophet and neither could Finn, since his parents had cut him off when they’d kicked him out.  The Damerons surely would have paid for him to get a subscription too, but if she knew Finn at all, she would swear that he had insisted he could just share one with Poe.

            _MUGGLE FAMILY KILLED, SNOKE SUSPECTED_ was blazoned across the top in black and white.  Rey felt her insides grow cold.  Beneath the headline was an unmoving picture of a normal-looking Muggle family smiling at the camera and a moving picture of men carrying four bodies out of a ruined home on stretchers.  She had almost pushed Snoke and his fanatics out of her mind over the summer in the Muggle world.  Fear returned full-force in her mind and in the Great Hall around her as other students accepted their Prophets and read the urgent headline.

            “They must have found the bodies this morning after the Prophet had gone to press,” Rose said quietly, staring down at the Muggle family like she’d never forget their faces.  Across the table, Finn had gone silent and pale.  He pushed his full plate away.  She wondered if his parents and elder sister had been involved.  He seemed to wonder the same thing.  Poe’s face was a mask of fury.

            Rey skimmed a few lines of the article, but her brain only processed snatches.  _No marks…all four members and family cat killed…Avada Kedavra suspected spell…_   She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.  Would it be one of her friends’ families next time?

            When she’d first started Hogwarts, the rumors about Snoke had been all in the past.  They learned about his first uprising in History of Magic, his “new world order” cut short by none other than Luke Skywalker.  And she had felt no fear, even as she learned that the children of his supporters still walked the halls of Hogwarts with her.  Professor Skywalker was Headmaster, he would protect them.  She had nothing to fear.

            Until third year, when the whispers returned, this time of disappearances and strange coincidences and old wizarding families woken from their quiet obscurity.  The worst of the Slytherins grew bolder.  She heard sneers of _Mudblood_ called after her in the halls and _Blood Traitor_ snarled at her friends.  Rey gripped her wand tighter when she went out after dark and slept with it close by.  Now, few could deny that Snoke was on the rise and not nearly as dead as everyone had thought after Skywalker’s victory, although some still tried to ignore his ever-growing presence. 

            Rose looked up at her and Rey could see her fear echoed in the eyes of her friend.  There had been other curious Muggle deaths, but the Prophet had always reported them on the second page.  This was serious if they had sent a special issue to press just for it.  The _suspected_ part of Snoke’s involvement looked more and more hazy.

            On some buried instinct, she glanced over at the Slytherin table.  Most had set their paper aside and gone back to a carefree lunch.  Solo and Phasma had their head bent over one paper, their eyebrows scrunched together.  A few seats down, Krennic laughed and talked with Sloane and his other Slytherin buddies like it was Christmas.  Anger boiled in her stomach.  She’d hex him.  If Krennic sneered something at her in the hall, she’d hex him just for his carelessness.  She looked around for Cassian and found him with an arm around Jyn’s hunched shoulders at the Gryffindor table.  The rest of Rogue One sat around in silence with their heads bent over their plates.

            Rey looked back down at the paper Rose had spread flat before them. 

            _MUGGLE FAMILY KILLED, SNOKE SUSPECTED_

            The first day of classes didn’t seem all that exciting anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! On a related note, did anyone see the trailer?!?!? I can't wait!


	6. Oh, take me back to the start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben have to endure their first rounds together and realize that they might be remembering the past differently...

            “It’s only Thursday and we have so much Potions homework already.  Damn Tarkin and his obsession with Bezoars,” Rose muttered.  “We get it.  They’ll save someone from any poison.  Do we have to write twenty inches on it?”

            Rey looked over her quill and finished parchment at her friend.  “You’re almost done, Rose.”

            “I have fifteen inches and nothing else to say,” she complained and tugged the book from under Rey’s elbow.  Rey rubbed at the bruise that resulted.

            “But _you’re_ done,” Poe said and tried to look at Rey’s parchment.  She shot a lazy hex at him and he flinched as it singed the back of his hand.  “No fair, Rey.  You’ve finished already,” he protested, rubbing the angry red mark on the back of his hand.

            Rey didn’t even glance up at his complaints.  She tapped a word on her parchment with her wand to erase it and fixed the spelling.  “If you’d started yesterday like I told you to, you’d be done now too.”  She glanced up at the clock and sighed.  “You two had better get back to your common room if you want to make curfew.”

            “Yes, mum,” Poe groaned.  She shot him a glare as he shoved his parchment messily into his bag.  She would have bet Rose a galleon that Tarkin would take points off his essay for the crinkles. 

            “You know full well that Solo will take off extra points if he catches you out and I can’t do anything about that,” she reminded them.

            Finn squeezed her shoulder as he tossed his bag over his shoulder.  “Thanks, Rey.”

            The Gryffindors exited the common room, and she left Rose agonizing over the Potions essay to stash her own work far from prying eyes.  She returned in her school robes again with her wand tucked in easy reach and her prefect badge pinned to her chest.

            Rose glanced up.  “Look at you, all official.  Don’t murder Solo.”

            “No promises,” Rey answered.  She tied her sneakers and exited the common room to make the gloomy walk to the Slytherin common room in the dungeons.  Surely Solo wouldn’t deign to walk to the Hufflepuff common room.  But she exited through the barrels and stopped.

            Solo lounged against the cool wall.  When he spotted her, he sneered.  “Fitting you mudbloods live in barrels.  Cutting it a bit close, aren’t we?  I thought the Hufflepuff Golden Girl was always on time.”

            She glanced at her watch to confirm.  Yep, he had come to lounge outside of her common room just to irritate her.  And perhaps to scare the pants off Hufflepuffs just barely making curfew.  “It’s quarter to.”

            He shrugged.  “Well, you badgers never were known for your punctuality.”

            Why did he always try to make her feel so small?  “Snakes are nocturnal, I hear.  Must be why you’re lurking.  But I’m on time.”

            He pushed off the wall and moved to stand right in front of her.  Probably thought his height would intimidate her or something.  She clutched the wand in her pocket but fought to show no fear.  Not that she feared him at all.  She just wanted to smack that permanent smirk off his face.

            “You don’t understand personal space, do you?” she snapped.

            She was spared from this nightmare by the chiming of the clock.  Solo turned abruptly on his heel and stalked passed her.

            Rey caught up with him, although she was convinced he was trying to leave her behind.  Arrogant, brooding prick.  Rey waved her want and a broom closet banged open.  Empty.  Solo flicked his wand and checked a dark classroom.  At least he didn’t plan to leave all the work to her.  She couldn’t decide if his heavy silence was better than his snide remarks.

            “What does a mudblood like you even do over the summer?” Solo asked as if reading her thoughts.  Silence was better.  Definitely.  She would have gladly taken his absence too.

            Rey checked another closet and a couple tumbled out.  She frowned at them.  “Five points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.  Really, Stilinski?  Already?  Go to your common rooms now.”  They scurried away from her severe gaze and Solo’s knowing smirk.  The prefects continued on.  “I worked all summer,” she answered him.  “That must be so offensive to your silver spoon.”

            He snorted.  “Muggles can be rich and selfish too.  Most are.”

            “Maybe the famous ones, but most Muggles aren’t rich,” she informed him.  “In fact, they’re hardly different from wizards.”  She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with Solo.  It would only end up angering one or both of them.  She knew what he thought of Muggles.

            He frowned.  “Muggles aren’t anything like wizards.  You’re a fool if you think so, though I’m not surprised you would.”

            “You don’t know the first thing about Muggles,” Rey accused.  “They have many of the same problems as wizards.  They just have to solve them without magic.”

            Solo scoffed and flicked open a few more doors.  “Muggles aren’t even on the same level as wizards.  It was for their protection that we had to go into hiding.  Foolish decision.”

            Rey saw red.  She’d lived her whole life with one foot in the Muggle world.  And sure, maybe it was hell for her, but she wasn’t exactly representative of the whole.  “And I suppose you think Muggleborns are lesser too?”

            He glanced at her dispassionately.  That’s what irritated her about him the most.  He didn’t even care to get upset about this.  He just dismissed her.  “Mudbloods aren’t true wizards.  They’re bastards, hybrids.  So, yes, inferior.”

            Fury boiled inside her, but it wouldn’t do any good to curse him within an inch of his life.  Although that may show him that she could do magic just as well as he could.  Of course, if the last several terms hadn’t proved that to him, a well-placed Bat-Bogey Hex wouldn’t.  “You should be grateful,” she said instead.  He seemed surprised by her calm.  “We keep you Pureblood pricks from becoming too inbred.”

            “Our pure blood makes us stronger,” he said.  And he wasn’t nearly as dispassionate now.  “Our legacies are proud.”

            “And full of incest.  No wonder so many of you go mad.  It’s really a wonder any of the Blacks can function at all,” she said and smirked at the redness creeping up his face.

            “The Black family is an old wizarding family with noble…” he snarled.

            “Insanity problems,” she finished for him.  “You know, this is all because wizards don’t really do science.  If you did, then you’d know what generations of inbreeding does to a population.  I mean, honestly, that’s probably why so many of you think Snoke is…”

            He rounded on her.  “You have no right to speak of the Supreme Leader, Mudblood.”

            Rey smirked into his furious face, though he gripped his wand tight in his left hand.  It was a little too easy to irritate him.  “Why?” she asked innocently.  “Did you take his mark already or are you waiting for that special day?”

            He blinked at her.  “What?”

            She waved her hand.  “I figured you were enamored with him ever since you started insulting me.  Thought it was only a matter of time.”

            The anger returned to his face.  “ _You_ started insulting _me_ ,” he spat at her.  “You just looked down your dirty nose at me once you realized you could beat me in some classes.”

            A drenching sadness dampened her anger.  He remembered those early years so differently.  When she spoke again, her voice was so quiet it took him off-guard.  “I always respected you, Ben.  You never let me get away with anything less than my best.  I even thought we could maybe be friends if you didn’t sit with the Slytherins constantly.  But in third year, you threw ‘mudblood’ at me like I was nothing.”

            “You are a mudblood,” he said, but there was no fire behind it, as if he’d said it automatically.

            “Yeah,” she sighed.  “I guess I am.  I never get to forget it either.  Do you think everyone will forget once I leave Hogwarts or will that slur follow me for the rest of my life?”

            He didn’t say anything more.  Neither did she until they finished their rounds and she bid him a good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for reading! Sorry for the late post tonight, but it's here as promised. Happy Easter, if you celebrate it, happy spring if not! Comments and kudos make my day <3


	7. Snitches and Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you lots and lots of Quidditch. A break from Ben Solo, but he'll be back next chapter, promise :)

            Finn dropped another stack of books on the table.  “I think Tarkin’s trying to kill us,” he hissed at his friends.

            “Will we even have time for Quidditch this year?” Poe complained and sent a gaze full of longing out the window.

            “You always make time for Quidditch,” Rey reminded him.  She sat with her sneakers propped up on the table and her own heavy volume in her lap.  She scratched another note on her parchment with her quill and went back to her reading.  The boys could complain as much as they wanted, but she was going to get this essay done _today_.

            “What I wouldn’t give to go fly today,” Poe wished.  It was really a beautiful day out.  Sunshine drenched the lawn and glittered across the Black Lake.  They glanced enviously at the first- and second-years lounging in the sun by the lake.  They hadn’t yet learned how much homework they’d have at Hogwarts.  “Lucky bastards,” Poe muttered.

            “I even want to go flying today,” Rose said, pillowing her head on her arms.  They all stared at her.  “What?”

            “Rose, you don’t like flying,” Finn said gently.

            “Rose, you suck balls at flying,” Poe said at the same time much less gently.  “You don’t even have a broom.”

            “I could fly with Finn.”  She pouted.  Rey and Finn exchanged glances.  Poe and Rey flew too daringly for her to tolerate, so Finn was the best option, but that was less than fun for him.  It meant he couldn’t even do a barrel roll without risking Rose screaming bloody murder or falling off.

            “We’re not going to go flying today anyway,” Rey said so no one had to set Rose straight about how fun it was to fly with her.  “We’re spending the day in the library until we finish these Potions essays.”

            “You’re a slave driver, Rey,” Poe complained.

            “You can do whatever you want, Poe, but you’re not copying off mine on Monday.”

            He huffed and grabbed one of the heavy volumes.  Their table lapsed into silence again.  For a while, Rey heard nothing besides the turning of ancient pages and the scratching of quills.  Rey finished her notetaking and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment to start her essay.  A headache was starting to pull at her temples, but she stubbornly continued.  Poe huffed every few minutes.  She was sure, if left to himself, he’d never do his homework.  Except for Defense.  It had been even worse to force him to study for OWLs last year.  Which was probably why she’d scored higher than him on everything but Defense and in that they’d tied.  Finn and Rose were much better at focusing.

            Rey looked up as someone stopped before their table and met the double gaze of Solo and Phasma.  She expected him to say something snide or scoff, but he just turned Phasma by her sleeve and talked off to find another table.  Rey watched him go with no small amount of surprise.

            “Bloody bastard,” Poe muttered.

            “Poe, he didn’t even _say_ anything,” Rose reasoned.

            “Probably thought he couldn’t take all four of us, bloody coward,” Finn said.

            Rey rolled her eyes.  “Oh, stop it,” she hissed.  “Solo can be civil occasionally without you analyzing his motives.”

            They all stared at her.  “Who are you and what have you done with Rey?” Poe asked.

            She shook her head at them.  “You forget, I have to be semi-civil to him once a week.  I can’t very well hex him every five feet down the hallway.”

            “Sounds good to me,” Finn said.  Poe nodded along.

            “I don’t know how you put up with him, Rey,” Rose said in sympathy.

            Rey shrugged.  It had been two weeks of rounds with Solo and so far, it hadn’t been as bad as they thought.  Sure, he called her mudblood at every turn and they’d argued about Ancient Runes, but that had been sort of fun, really, and she’d gotten used to the slur years ago.  Solo was still undoubtedly a prick, but she could tolerate him.  All around, the first two weeks had gone better than she’d expected.

            Rey said none of this.  Poe and Finn would most likely vomit if she said anything that could be construed as nice about Solo.  Rose would think she had gone mad and then Poe would hex Solo just for the fun of it and they’d start a duel in the library… No, better to spare the priceless books their petty house squabbles.

            They left the library hours later massaging the cricks from their necks.  Poe had complained for a solid half-hour that he wanted dinner.  They had finally given in and went with bulging bags to the Great Hall.  Rey slid into a seat at the Gryffindor table.  The empty spot beside her was immediately apprehended by Hannah.  Eliza trailed after her, and Rey greeted her other roommate.  Although it was Friday and they had only gotten out of class a few hours before, Eliza wore a pale pink dress in place of her school robes and had a thin ribbon as a necklace around her tan throat.

            “Do you have any advice for Quidditch tryouts tomorrow?” Hannah asked in a rush.  She shredded a napkin in her lap until Eliza placed a calming hand over hers.

            Rey turned towards her, all thoughts of hunger gone.  “You’ll be fine, Hannah.  You can fly better than any of them,” she said, ignoring Poe and Finn’s protests.  “Are you really going out for the team?”

            Hannah nodded, her eyes wide.  She still wore her tight pants and sweater from flying.  “I’ve been practicing all day.  But do you have any advice?  What does Malbus look for a in a Beater?”

            “You, Hannah.  You’re perfect for it.  Just don’t hit one of us with a Bludger and you’ll make the team tomorrow.”

            Saturday dawned sunny but windy.  Rey stood beside Malbus on the Quidditch Pitch and stared down the Hufflepuffs who’d come to go out for the team.  The Quidditch captain was tall, dark, and muscled like his cousin, Baze, who was so large Rey wondered how a broom held him.  Unlike his cousin, though, he played Chaser instead of Beater and was effective at running interference against the other Chasers who tried to unseat smaller team members.  A few Hufflepuffs sat in the stands for solidarity or as first-years aching to try out.  A scattered few second- and third-years had dared to show up, but most were fourth-year or above.  Rose sat in the stands beside Eliza and hexed anyone from another house who tried to watch the tryouts.  Rey had seen her land a good hex on Poe a minute before.  Professor Kenobi sat a few rows below her friend and studiously ignored Poe’s cries of pain.

            Wind tore at her hair and practice robes.  Malbus had named her his assistant, which meant that her position on the team was probably safe.  A few other veterans stood amongst the crowd of hopefuls, alternately disgruntled that they had to try out again and excited to return.  It was a good day for tryouts, she thought, with the wind howling around them.  They’d be able to see how they flew in less than ideal conditions, especially since a storm seemed to be on its way.  Rain was an even better way to weed them out.

            “Alright,” Malbus called to get their attention.  The Hufflepuffs quieted and shuffled under his gaze.  Rey spotted Hannah among them and gave her an encouraging smile.  Poe’s older brother, Kes Dameron, was there too and another prefect, Joanna Weasley.  She’d been second-string last year and hoped to make first.  “Rey, there aren’t any firsties here, right?”  She confirmed it.  “Alright, let’s get started.  Remember, just because you made the team last year doesn’t mean you will this year.”

            “Unless you’re Rey Niima,” Dameron muttered.  Rey sent him a vulgar gesture.  He grinned at her and winked.

            “If you’d like to challenge me for Seeker, Dameron, be my guest.  I’ll leave you on your ass in the mud,” she said.

            “I have more of a Beater’s build myself,” he said.  Cocky bastard.  Beside him, Hannah paled.

            “Alright, you two, enough.  If anyone wants to challenge Niima, be my guest, but good luck with that.  This is her fourth year running as Seeker.  And Merlin’s Beard, I’ll be glad if we have no Seeker tryouts this year.”  Malbus crossed his arms.  “Right, so, some drills to start.  Niima will be running speed drills.”

            Throwing her leg over her broom, she shot off into the air and performed a lazy figure eight before hovering thirty feet above the ground.  The Quidditch hopefuls did the same.  She could already pinpoint a few that wouldn’t make it through drills.  They were just too shaky on their brooms.

            “Here’s the drill,” she called over the wind.  “We’ll fly to the end of the pitch, turn ‘round the hoops, fly back, turn again, fly back, pinpoint turn as narrow as you can.”

            Not a tough drill by any means, but she didn’t want the young ones to get hurt.  She led the charge and did a banking turn around the hoops and back and again.  Her pinpoint turn was on a dime.  Malbus stayed in the middle to observe.  Several of them, including Dameron and Hannah, executed the turn almost as well as she did.

            Rey pulled them to a stop in the middle, hovering above the field.  She and the captain conferred silently, a benefit of their long stint on the team together.  Even from a distance, she could tell he agreed with her.  Rey indicated a handful of flyers, mostly young ones, who could barely stay on their brooms.

            “Not this year,” she told them gently.  “Keep practicing with the school equipment and try again next year.  Get those turns clean.”

            That first group went off without much angst.  They had come for fun and didn’t expect to make the team.  Malbus had allowed her to dismiss the first few groups.  He was more likely to tell them they couldn’t fly worth half of Merlin’s ass.  But Rey didn’t envy him the nasty job of weeding out the top contenders, although he would undoubtedly consult her.

            More drills, harder ones this time, and another group dismissed.  The potentials dwindled to manageable levels.  It had felt as if their whole house was on the pitch or in the stands.  She was surprised to see one second-year girl hanging among them.  Nina Carlissian, a half-blood witch with a famous uncle and part of Rey’s first class of girls as a prefect.  She was a little small to make the team this year—the Slytherins would destroy her as a Chaser—but Rey would convince Malbus to take her on as second-string upcoming talent.  At least she could participate in some practices and learn their tricks.  She reminded Rey of herself at that age a bit. 

            “Alright,” Malbus said, finally retaking the lead of the tryouts.  Rey joined the crowd of Hufflepuffs and gave Hannah an encouraging pat.  Her friend stood a little taller now that she’d made it through the first few rounds of cuts.  Rey would participate in the rest of tryouts, though he had all but guaranteed her spot as Seeker.  “If you want to tryout for Beater, over here; Chaser, here; Keeper, here; and Seeker.  If you want to go out for multiple spots, go to your primary first.”

            Rey moved to the place he had indicated for Seeker, but she was the only one who did.  As usual, the largest crowd gathered for Chaser, including Nina and Melshi, though there were only two spots this year since Malbus occupied one.  Hannah and Dameron both stood for Beater.  They had a lot of rebuilding to do.  Many had graduated, and she missed those who had made up her original team.  She crossed her arms.

            “You know, you can try out for Seeker,” she said.  It was true that two seventh-years had gone against her for Seeker last year.  She had left one crashed in the mud when he couldn’t pull up in time.  The other had gone to the Hospital Wing after he crashed into the stands.  The rest of her team had sat back and cackled. 

            “You put two seventh-years in the Hospital Wing last year, Rey,” Dameron pointed out.  “You can’t blame them for not daring.”  A few shuffled uncomfortably.  “And you fly like a bat out of hell.”  A few others nodded at that.

            Malbus rolled his eyes.  “If you want to go out for second-string Seeker after your own try out, we’ll do that last.  You don’t have to race Rey.”  He clapped his hands.  “Alright, let’s go.  Chasers first.  Beaters, grab clubs and get in the air.  Brown and Weasley, one in each set of hoops.  If you other Keepers want to try out for Chaser, get in line.”

            Dameron shoved Hannah and she pushed him back, making him stumble as she snatched up the first club.  Oh yes, she’d do nicely for Beater.  Rey always liked tryouts.  She liked to see her new team form around her and fill in the gaps that others had left behind.  The Hufflepuff Quidditch team was a new monster every year.  Rey kicked into the air.  She hoped Malbus would release a practice snitch for her, so she could chase it around the pitch and get in everyone’s way.  They couldn’t join the team if they couldn’t stay out of Rey’s way.

            She flew a lazy lap around the field and waved to Rose and Eliza while Malbus got the first contenders ready.  She paused in the air beside where Joanna hovered.  “What do you think, Weasley?  Make the team this year?”

            “Piss off, Rey,” the feisty redhead answered.  “You know I will.”

            Rey grinned and flew back around towards the center.  She wanted Jo to make the team.  They’d always gotten on well and it was her last chance to make the starting line-up before she graduated.  Rey surveyed the Chasers, six of them, readying to face off.  Malbus wasn’t flying with them yet.  He wanted to survey the new recruits.  Melshi was there, though, and she was almost sure he would get a spot again.  He was on the team last year too.  There was a fifth-year girl too, Olivia Wood, who had flown well in drills.  There were a lot of them to go out for, optimistically, one Chaser spot.  A few seventh-years were good enough to maybe fill it, including Steven Sharp.  Her stupid prefect partner was there too, but she desperately hoped Malbus wouldn’t curse her Quidditch game with him.  Bloody Gaskell.  That was all she needed this term.

            “Rey,” Malbus called.  “I’m releasing a snitch.  Don’t get too wrapped up, though.”  He flicked open the chest of Quidditch balls and released the small golden one.  She watched it flit away and out of sight but didn’t try to follow it yet.  It was more fun to practice if she had to search for a while.  “Bludgers live!” he called and released the snarling balls.  The Beaters readied their bats just in case.  “Chasers ready!  Quaffle!”

            He threw the large red ball into the air and chaos ensued.  The Chasers scrabbled for purchase on it, until Melshi snuck through them and plucked it up easily.  He and Malbus worked together well.  Shar Malbus didn’t tend to actually have the Quaffle very often, though he was skilled at scoring, but he fended off other Chasers and Melshi could always reliably get his hands on the Quaffle.  She didn’t know how he did it.

            As Hannah smacked a Bludger away from one of her designated three Chasers, Rey decided it was time for her to complicate things a little.  She dove in the midst of the flurry of Chasers and sped around Dameron, who laughed as she did.  All the way, her eyes hunted for a hint of gold.  She remembered how difficult it had been in the beginning to pick out that small speck of color in the midst of their golden robes, but she had learned to differentiate them long ago.  She dropped down beside the stands where she knew the practice snitch liked to hang out.

            Dark clouds rolled in above them and the wind tore at her face.  The smell of rain rode along on the breeze.  Soon, she thought, soon the rain would begin to pour and then they’d really see who the Chasers were.  Lightning flashed between the clouds.  This would be a good test for her too.  She hadn’t had to chase a snitch in the rain for months. 

            “Um, are we going to stop when the rain rolls in?” one boy asked Malbus and Rey winced for him. 

            “You’re out,” Shar said and gestured off the field.  His spot was immediately taken by another.  Malbus kicked a few more people off the pitch when it became clear that they couldn’t deal with the flurry of movement around the Quaffle.  Meanwhile, Jo blocked several good shots on the goal.  One of the Beaters swung at a Bludger, but sent it flying straight for Joanna Weasley.  Hannah intercepted it and hit it back out of range before it could do any damage.  Malbus kicked that Beater off the pitch and replaced him with another.

            Rey spotted a glimmer of gold across the field and dove for it, narrowly missing a Bludger that soared passed her head.  Distantly, she heard Malbus yelling at the Beaters to always look out for the Seeker, but her world had narrowed to a pinpoint.  She hoped that Hannah wasn’t the one who hit the Bludger.  Yes, it was the snitch, speeding away from her and towards the ground.  She heard gasps from above as she turned into a daring dive.  Someone, maybe Rose, called out to her as she plummeted towards the sand below.  This was the move that had left one competitor in the mud last year at tryouts.  She pulled up just before she crashed into the sand and her toes skimmed the ground.  But the snitch was right in front of her.  Just…right…there!  She pulled up suddenly, the golden ball clutched in her hand, and the Hufflepuffs cheered.  She felt the swoop of elation in her heart, same as when she caught the snitch in a real game.

            “Keep your eye on the Quaffle!” Malbus yelled and kicked another two Chasers and a Keeper out who had been too preoccupied with her performance to focus.  They were down to two Keepers, four Beaters, and six Chasers.  Finally, she thought, as she made her lazy way back up with the snitch still in her hand.  Jo, Hannah, Melshi, and Dameron were still there.  So was Nina, Olivia Wood, Steven Sharp, stupid Gaskell, and a seventh-year named Maroney.  Just then, Malbus kicked another Chaser off the field and filled the spot himself.  Rey flew around the pitch for her own entertainment, still trying to pretend that she was hunting the snitch for the sake of simulating a real Quidditch game. 

            Malbus wouldn’t let up.  They flew for ages, just to see who would get too tired and drop out, even after the rain started.  Rey felt the cold water drip down her spine and knew that she was hopelessly soaked.  Rose, Eliza, and Theodosia Nott were the only ones left in the stands.  The two sixth-years had conjured a warm and dry bubble around them and invited the first-year into it.  Rey envied them.  She shivered as another icy tendril of water made its way into her shirt.  Would Malbus just hurry up and pick already?

            He motioned for them all to touch down and dragged her off to the side.  “What do you think, Niima?  You know this team as well as I do.”

            They conferred for a few minutes and argued over the placements.  Rey wouldn’t let up even in the face of Malbus’ frown.  Finally, he nodded, and they returned to the anxious Hufflepuffs.

            “Alright,” he braced his hands on his hips.  “I’ve made my decisions.”

            “You all had great runs,” Rey added because she knew he wouldn’t.  In fact, he grumbled at her.  “But we only have a few spots open.  But you were all great.”

            “Right, so, spots.  Niima’s going to be Seeker.”  All of them groaned and grumbled at him for announcing that one first.  “Alright, alright.  Chasers.”  They held their breaths and Rey couldn’t help but smile.  “First-string will be me, Melshi, and Olivia Wood.”  Both Gaskell and Maroney looked on the verge of protesting, but Malbus talked over them.  “Nina, good job, you’ll be second string this year and maybe move up next year.”  She beamed.  “Maroney, you’ll be second string too.  That’s all.” 

            It was highly unlikely that they’d need more than one sub for the Chasers and Nina could hang in for a game or two anyway.  Gaskell did not agree.  His face turned beet red and he started yelling at Olivia that she didn’t deserve the spot.  Rey pulled her wand out and advanced on him.

            “If you don’t bloody well shut up and move on your way, I’ll hex you into next year,” she warned him.  “You’re acting like a child.”

            He glared down at her.  “You wouldn’t dare.  I’ll tell Professor Kenobi and…”

            “And what?” Dameron snorted.  “You really think he’s going to give her detention?  It’s your word against ours and we’re all backing Rey.  Plus, she’s his favorite.”

            Gaskell grumbled and looked ready to argue, but he just turned and stalked off the pitch, dragging his broom with him.  Rey winced as it bumped over every stone and divot in the ground.  No matter who it’s owner was, no broom deserved to be treated that way.  When she returned to Malbus’ side, Olivia gave her a small smile, and Rey nodded to her.

            “Alright, now that he’s out of the way.  Sharp, where do you think you’re going?  Yeah, alright, we didn’t pick you for Chaser, but we’ve got you down for backup Seeker, alright?”  He brightened considerably at that.  “Rey didn’t even have to beat you down for it.  Moving on.  Keeper’s Weasley, backup is Fetter.  Beaters are Kent and Dameron, backup Thornton.  Congrats everyone.  I’ll let you know practice schedules as soon as I can get them booked.”

            Hannah’s face broke out in an enormous smile, and she turned to congratulate Dameron and Jo.  Rey gave her a moment before she walked up and threw her arm over her friend’s shoulders.  “Congratulations!  See?  What’d I tell you?”

            “I know, I know, you were right,” Hannah admitted.  Rose and Eliza ran down from the stands and joined them.  Eliza threw her arms around Hannah even though she was drenched from head to toe. 

            “Hufflepuff supper!” Dameron called.  “I’m starving.”

            Laughing, Rey and her three friends started up towards the castle with the rest of the Hufflepuffs.  The rain still continued to pour, but none of them paid it much mind, other than to throw up a few moving shields against it.  Rey always loved the look of these invisible umbrellas, with the rain bouncing off its clear surface and rolling down around her. 

            When they reached the warm interior of Hogwarts, they waved their wands and dried off their clothes. 

            And the new Hufflepuff Quidditch team went to supper, brooms and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos make my day


	8. The masks we wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Solo acts slightly less like a prick (finally).

            At precisely 9:15, Rey slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and left the library where she’d been studying, for once, alone.  It was a quiet night at Hogwarts and the library had been quiet too.  Rain pounded against the glass of the elaborate windows and the figures in the portraits dozed against one another.  A Thursday night, when few students had even bothered to leave their common rooms.  Her friends had not bothered to leave their common rooms either, and Poe had looked at her like she was insane when she told him that she was planning to spend her evening holed up in the library.

            She tapped her way through the barrels and entered the common room.  Rose dozed by the fire with her head pillowed on her arms, and Rey stopped to shake her awake before she went upstairs.  Her friend came awake slowly, blinking and stretching her arms over her head.

            “What time is it?” Rose muttered.

            “9:30,” Rey answered.  “Tired night?”

            “It’s just the rain,” Rose said as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes.  “Makes me sleepy and you weren’t here to keep me awake.”

            It wasn’t that Rey had an overload of homework yet, but she wanted to have her Saturday free for Quidditch practice in the morning and time with her friends in the afternoon.  So, she had gone to the library determined to finish her Ancient Runes homework.  Tomorrow, she thought, during her free period, she’d draft some of her friends and start practicing silent spellwork.  She couldn’t escape it anymore.  In Defense, with Professor Imwe in Transfiguration, and especially Professor Holdo in Charms, that was all they ever did anymore.

            “Sorry, I had to get a few things done.”  Rose followed her to their dormitory, where Hannah and Eliza both looked up to greet them. 

            “Rounds with Solo again?” Hannah looked up from her book to ask.

            “That sounds like a terrible show on the telly,” Eliza said.  She was a half-blood, and Rey had gathered that her dad brought Muggle things into their home too.

            Hannah crinkled her nose.  “What’s a telly?”

            “Television,” Eliza told her blandly.

            “The thing with the moving pictures that talks?” Hannah asked, and Rey nodded.

            “It’s probably about as bad,” Rose said from where she’d planted herself on her patchwork quilt.  “All bickering and wisecracks.” 

            Rey rolled her eyes and straightened her appearance before she pinned her prefect badge to her chest.  She didn’t much like wearing it, but it was mandatory for rounds, just in case one of the professors caught them out after curfew and didn’t recognize two prefects, which was unlikely.

            She bid her friends a goodnight and left the dormitory.  Rey had decided after last week that she would beat Solo and wait for him at the Slytherin common room.  Then, at least, he couldn’t say that she was running late.

            The dungeons were always her least favorite place in the castle, mostly because she only ever descended into their depths to go to Potions and she wasn’t overly fond of Tarkin and his unfortunately necessary class.  But now she took the stairs two at a time and found herself in the hall outside of the Slytherin common room with twenty minutes to spare.

            Rey ran her hand along the rough stone wall until it gave way beneath her fingertips.  She knew the secret entrance to the Slytherin common room was behind it, though she didn’t try to enter.  She didn’t know the password to the twirling door of iron anyway.  Instead, she leaned against the wall just outside of it.

            As she stood there and waited for Solo, several misgivings occurred to her at once.  One, he could have already left the common room to meet her outside Hufflepuff’s like they usually did, and she could have missed him on the way down, though her path was certainly the fastest between them.  Two, he could have been out already and planned to go straight there.  Three, Hux or Phasma or, Godric forbid, Krennic could come down the hall at any minute and find her loitering there.  She had her wand, but against multiple Slytherins she would be at a disadvantage.

            Her fears were assuaged a moment later when she heard the door open and Solo appeared through the trick wall.  He stopped when he spotted her leaning against the stone wall twirling her wand between her fingers like she always lounged in the dungeons.  The look on his face was worth it.

            “What are you doing here?” he snapped.

            She raised an eyebrow at him.  “It’s time for rounds.  Cutting it a bit close, aren’t you, Solo?”  She smirked into his stunned face.

            “I’m sure you wouldn’t be so jovial if Hux came around the corner and hexed your face off,” he grumbled.  She pushed off the wall to match his stride and processed what he’d said.  It occurred to her that perhaps he had always come to her common room to keep her from running into any other Slytherins alone.  She scoffed internally at the idea.  “How did you know where the common room is?”

            “I’m friends with Poe and Finn, remember?  Do you really think they’ve made it to sixth year without finding all the common rooms?”  She snorted at the idea.  Finn had known where the Slytherin common room was from the start, of course, but had made Poe find it on his own.  Which he did.  Second year.  In fairness, Rey had found it before him but that was more because of Cassian than her own ingenuity.  She didn’t much care where the common rooms were.

            Solo led them to the end of the hall where the dungeons met the stairs and stopped.  It wasn’t yet ten, since he had left early and found her there already.  They had to check part of the dungeons anyway.  A Slytherin girl Rey didn’t recognize rushed down the stairs and passed them to get to her common room.

            “Figure out the Ancient Runes homework yet?” she asked by way of conversation, because standing in the hall in silence was just too awkward, even with Solo.  The muffled rain and the sharp green of the flourishing grass had put her in a good mood.

            He glanced down at her, his brows knitted together.  “It’s only Thursday.”

            “I know.” She shrugged.

            He looked away again.  “I finished half.”

            A small smile tugged at her lips.  Since he knew now that she’d finished it, he would probably have it done tomorrow.  Solo was nothing if not predictable and competitive.  She kind of liked that about him.  Wait…did she just think that she _liked_ something about Ben Solo?  This rain must have gotten to her more than she thought.

            The bells chimed over Hogwarts, and they strode off down the hall to check the dungeons.  All clear.  Solo was silent beside her, not even an attempt at conversation.  She was glad for that.  At least he wouldn’t deflate her good mood.  His face was unreadable.  Always was, unless he had given himself over to his notorious temper.  Something about him made her want to push and push until she reached what was underneath all that black and Slytherin green.

            “I’ve been thinking,” he said and paused.  She cocked her head to show that she was listening.  How could she not be?  He sounded so unsure, and she wanted to know what rattled around in Solo’s head that he’d finally decided to voice for her.  “I think we should attempt to be civil to each other.”

            Rey didn’t know how to respond to that.  He’d said it to her before, only to turn around and mock her.  Was this another dig at her tolerant nature?  “You do?” she ventured.

            “Yes,” he said and flicked his wand to check an empty classroom.

            She weighed her next words carefully.  Solo glared out at the world beneath dark brows, but she knew he could also be like a wounded animal, liable to bite at a poorly placed jab.  “What brought this on?”

            He glanced down at her with impatience, as if he hadn’t expected her to question his motives.  Or maybe it was surprise.  “Well, we’re rounds partners, aren’t we?  We may not see eye to eye, but we can at least get along for an hour a week.”

            Rey blinked up at him.  She never expected him to say something like that.  She waited for him to sneer and call her a filthy mudblood, but he continued to meet her stare resolutely.  “Alright, we should.  Where do we start?”

            He swallowed once.  “I won’t call you a mudblood,” he offered.

            She nodded.  “That’s a good start.  I’ll try to avoid calling you a prick.”

            Solo looked down at her, and she offered him a small, wry smile.  The corners of his mouth flicked up.  If he really was going to attempt some sort of equilibrium, she decided to make it her goal to get him to smile just once.  A real smile.

            “That seems fair.  I’ll try to avoid cracks about mud…I mean, muggleborns and Muggles,” he allowed.

            “And I’ll attempt to not tell you how inbred purebloods are,” she conceded.  “I think that’s good for now.  I don’t know if I can handle you being _too_ nice to me so soon.”

            This time, the small smile that flitted across his face was unmistakable.  They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.  Without their insults, what was she supposed to say to him?  She was so used to him initiating a battle and snarking at her.  She flicked her wand and checked a few rooms.

            “So…what’s the Slytherin common room like?” she asked because she was genuinely curious.  Cassian was her only real friend in Slytherin, and they had never been close enough for him to take her on a tour.  Not that he spent much time in his common room.  He seemed to always be in Gryffindor with Jyn and Bodhi or occasionally in Ravenclaw’s with Kay.  He shot her a half-amused smile.  “What?  Is ‘civil’ code for ‘maybe Rey will shut up and not talk to me’?”

            A low chuckle rumbled out of his chest, but no true smile accompanied it.  Did he _ever_ smile?  She guessed sometimes, just not around her.  “You probably wouldn’t like it.  I’m sure it’s not like the Hufflepuff common room at all.”

            She crossed her arms in a challenge.  “Try me.”

            He smirked.  “It’s tall and made of rough carved stone and under the Black Lake.  The light’s sort of greenish.”

            She shook her head.  “You’re terrible at this.  That’s the worst description.”

            “How would you know?  You’ve never been there,” he challenged.

            “Oh, I’m sure you’re not lying to me.  I just think you’re not doing it justice at all.  None of the common rooms are that bland,” she argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

            He shook his head, blowing the air from his lungs in a rough exhale.  “What about yours then?”

            “Oh, you know, it’s circular and low and made of wood and it’s got plants everywhere.”

            He snorted, and a small smile flitted across his face like she’d actually managed to amuse him.  It felt weird.  Bickering with Solo was normal, but _bantering_?  This would take some getting used to.  “Point taken,” he said.

            “What?  Is there some Slytherin rule that you can’t tell outsiders about your common room or something?” she asked.

            “Something like that,” he admitted.

            “Alright, fine.  What did you do with your summer?” she changed tactics.

            “I thought we were being civil.  I didn’t realize that would require me to divulge personal information,” he snapped.  Something almost like regret flitted across his face.

            To her surprise, his tone didn’t hurt her.  She harbored no illusions about getting Solo to open up to her.  “Would you rather sit in brooding silence?  That seems like your style.”

            Godric, did she just _tease_ Ben Solo?  His expression didn’t change.  “That sounds like a boring way to pass rounds,” he answered.

            “What would you like to talk about, then?” she offered.

            He thought for a moment in silence.  “What did you think about Ancient Runes this week?” he asked finally.

            Rey tried to tamp down her rising disappointment.  Ancient Runes was a safe topic.  Even if they ended up arguing about it like last week, they were unlikely to get nasty over it.  She swallowed her disappointment and decided that she would take a civil Ben Solo for a rounds partner.  It could be much worse.

 

            Rey walked into Potions the next morning just before the bells tolled to signal the start of class and rubbed sleep from her eyes.  Tarkin shot her a look but said nothing as she joined Finn in the open spot beside his cauldron.  She set her own on the stand and tried to pay attention to the instructions Tarkin wrote on the chalkboard. 

            “Hiccoughing Solution today?” she asked him without expecting a real answer.

            “Merlin, Rey, you look like hell,” was his answer.  “Did Solo hex you or something?”

            “No,” she said, rubbing sleep from her eyes.  Where had he even gotten that idea?  “No, of course not.”

            He gave her a doubtful look.  “You say that like he’s never hexed you before.”

            She nudged him in the side as Tarkin turned back around and surveyed the class to find anyone carrying on a conversation.  Why did they have to have _double_ Potions on a Friday morning?  Did Professor Skywalker just want to kill every sixth-year?  Or maybe Tarkin had requested it as his usual vindictive self.

            Rey started her potion, though her mind felt sluggish and uncoordinated.  She glanced over to the table that Solo shared with Hux and Phasma.  Just then, Hux leaned over their cauldrons and said something that very obviously ended in _mudbloods_.  She expected Solo to laugh along with them or even show some sort of emotion, but he just shrugged at his laughing friends and went back to his potion.  Odd.  He glanced in her direction, and she dropped her head back to her cauldron.

            “Solo didn’t hex me,” she said as Tarkin moved to another part of the room.  “In fact, he was civil yesterday.”

            Finn snorted.  “Solo?  _Civil?_   Are you sure you’re not confusing him for someone else?  Did _you_ hex _him_?”

            “No one hexed anyone, Finn,” she said, too tired to argue with him or join him in his amusement.  Solo _had_ surprised her during rounds and it was no wonder that Finn didn’t believe her.  Until last night, she would also have said that he was more likely to hex and obliviate her than act civil to her.

            She kept all of her attention on her potion and the instructions Tarkin had written on the board.  By the end of class, she had a passable Hiccoughing Solution that didn’t merit one of Tarkin’s rare compliments but did at least get a decent mark.  Solo, of course, had finished it perfectly, much to their professor’s delight.

            And by Friday afternoon, she didn’t know how to feel about Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter satisfied some curiosity of where these two are headed. Sorry for the late post tonight. Comments and kudos are more than appreciated! See you Wednesday!


	9. Pretty Fly for a Jedi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An illicit Quidditch league is revived for a new school year. And we get a bit more of Rogue One.

            They held the first meeting of the Inter-house Quidditch League or the IQL, as Poe liked to call it, so they sounded semi-official, on the fourth Sunday of term, two days after her strange interaction with Solo.  She hadn’t seen him since Potions on Friday and didn’t really want to.  She imagined that his civility could only last for so long. 

            They convened in an empty classroom on the fourth floor.  In an attempt to keep things somewhat secret, they had enchanted a set of small mirrors to broadcast the time and place of the next meeting or match when she or Poe wrote on theirs.  But for the first meeting, the news had traveled by word of mouth. 

            A sizeable crowd of students sat crowded together on tables and mismatched chairs that they had dragged around the classroom.  Night had already fallen outside, though it was significantly before curfew, since both Bodhi and Paige were attending, and they had rounds that night.  The assembled students ranged from first-years, who shuffled nervously and huddled with their friends, to veteran seventh-years like Jyn and Cassian who had flown every year the IQL had been in existence.  They covered all houses too, though only a few Slytherins joined. 

            Rey sat in the front of the room on the teacher’s desk, swinging her legs and tugging her oversized sweater to cover her chilled hands.  Poe and Finn stood on either side of her.  Rose sat in a chair behind her and read.  She had chosen to come even though she would never even consider flying for a team because, as she put it, all her friends were here anyway.  She ignored them, and the mass of students gathered in the classroom.  The bells overhead chimed eight, and Poe looked at her.  She nodded for him to start the meeting.

            “Alright,” Poe said and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.  Jyn wolf-whistled at him, and he flipped her off.  “Welcome to the…what’s this?  The fourth year of the Inter-house Quidditch League.  Everyone’s welcome, no matter what your skill level is.  Let’s go over the breakdown for our newbies.  We might have some stragglers too.”

            Rey only half-listened as Poe outlined the structure of the league.  She saw Jyn’s head lull onto Cassian’s shoulder from boredom.  They had decided early to divide the league into first through fourth years and fifth and above for the sake of the players.  A few players crossed over with their friends, but most teams stuck to that.  They played six to a team without Seekers, to Rey’s constant disappointment, but she understood why. 

            Twenty minutes in, Poe had beat his description of the teams to death and a few latecomers had trickled in.  Rey pushed herself off the table and put a hand on Poe’s arm before everyone fell asleep.

            “I think they get it, Poe,” she said so only he could hear.  She didn’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone or he’d probably keep them there for hours out of spite.  “Think we can get to teams now?”

            He nodded and clapped his hands once.  A few third-years jumped.  “Alright, so let’s get to teams.  If you have a full team selected already, group up.  If not, don’t worry, we’ll find a team for you.”

            There was a sudden shuffling as everyone roused themselves and started to cling in clusters to their friends.   Jyn and the rest of Rogue One had already been roughly seated together.  They latched onto one another and moved off to the side to lounge against the stone wall.  Rey bit her lip to keep from glaring at them.  She liked everyone on the team—how could she not, two of them were on her house team—but she was still bitter over last year’s loss.  Jyn grinned at her.  How she and Cassian had managed to put a decent team out of mostly Chasers and Bodhi and Kay who didn’t play Quidditch for a house team at all, Rey still didn’t know.

            Rey leaned back against the table and let her team come to her.  She, Poe, and Finn were already there, of course, as the three Chasers, but were quickly joined by Hannah and Paige, whom they’d convinced to play their Beaters.  Their final member was less than ideal.  Jo Weasley played for a different team and no amount of bribery on Rey’s part could convince her to part with it.  Poe had convinced Gryffindor’s second-string Keeper to join them, although Rey suspected that was only accomplished by threatening to kick him out of his house spot if he didn’t.

            It took a good bit of shifting and scraping to get everyone sorted into their preliminary teams.  Rey pulled out a lengthy piece of parchment and started jotting down their compositions.  Hers was listed at the top.

            Team: **Pretty Fly for a Jedi**

            Chasers: Poe, Rey, Finn

            Beaters: Hannah, Paige

            Keeper: Sarkeesian

            Then, just after them, because they were immediately assaulted by Jyn:

            Team: **Rogue One**

Chasers: Erso, Andor, Rook

            Beaters: Malbus, Melshi

            Keeper: Esso

            And the list went on and on.  More teams came up to join the list and Rey scribbled them all down frantically to keep up.  Rose looked up once but didn’t offer to help.  She had to flip between the two sheets of parchment where she’d listed the lower classmen and upper.  By the time they reached the end of the decided teams, her hand was cramping.

            “Alright,” Poe said.  “Start practicing with your team whenever you can get the pitch, but don’t interrupt actual Quidditch practices.”  He glared out at the gathered students.  “We don’t want another incident like last year.  That was a near miss with Tarkin.”

            They nodded reluctantly, and Poe glared at Jyn and Bodhi until they nodded too.  Cassian had barely saved them when Jyn had tried to “borrow” the pitch while the Slytherin team practiced for an upcoming game.

            Poe nodded with finality.  “Right.  If you’ve signed the list, you can go.  We’ll send out the first games when we can get all the brackets figured out.”

            Most of the room filed out, leaving the half-filled teams of mostly younger students behind.  Rey and Finn worked through them, pairing players with open slots until they had all the teams filled.  Only for one spot did two people have to share.  They signed the parchment and the classroom finally emptied.

            Rey slung her bag over her shoulder and tucked the parchments neatly inside.  Rose stretched as she rose from her chair.  The rest of their team had departed too.

            “What do you think of Sarkeesian?” Poe asked her as they exited the classroom into the empty hallway. 

            Rey frowned.  She’d only seen the boy play in one game and she hadn’t been paying very close attention, since it was a match against her own house team.  All she knew was that Hufflepuff had slaughtered the Gryffindor team.  Poe and Finn wouldn’t speak to her for a week after.  It didn’t seem prudent to bring that up now.

            “We’ll give him a shot,” she said.  “I don’t know if he’ll be any good, but we don’t have any other options right now.”

            Finn looked doubtful, like he too was remembering that disastrous game.  “Are you sure you can’t convince Jo to join us?”

            “She’s already signed on to another team with her friends, Finn,” Rey reminded him.  She had Jo’s name printed neatly beside Olivia Wood and a few others she knew.  “Would someone else be able to convince you to switch teams?”

            “Of course not!”  He looked appalled at the very thought.  Rey gave him a pointed look.  “Alright,” he conceded.  “I get it.”

            Rose skipped beside them and turned a bright grin on Poe and Finn.  “I’ll play Keeper.”

            Poe choked.  Rey laughed at his wide-eyed look.

            They went back to the Gryffindor Common Room.  Poe kicked a few first-years out of the comfortable chairs by the fire and claimed them for them.  Rey thought about protesting, but the castle had grown chilly in the last week and the fire was so wonderfully warm.  And the Gryffindor Tower really did have the most comfortable chairs.

            Her sense of peace was immediately shattered by Jyn, who crossed the room and threw herself onto the arm of Poe’s chair.  Cassian and Bodhi followed, albeit reluctantly.  Kay didn’t bother to get up at all.

            “Ready to get your asses kicked again this year?” she asked, flashing them a feral grin.

            Poe propped his arms up on her leg.  “It’s ok, Jyn.  I know you have a fascination with my ass.  It’s understandable.”

            She sent him a vulgar gesture.  Behind her, Cassian looked down at his shoes.  “That’s what you think, Dameron.  I’m more interested in how many points we can beat you by.”

            Rey called to Cassian over the back of the armchair and both their heads, “did you have tryouts yet, Cass?  Going up against me as Seeker again, are you?”

            He flashed her one of his small grins, and she noted that Jyn paused her conversation with Poe to listen.  His voice was quiet but reached her ears without difficulty.  “Wouldn’t you like to know, Niima?  Scoping out our weaknesses already?”

            She shrugged.  “You know I can’t resist.  I’d never hear the end of it if we lost to you lot.”  She wrinkled her nose at the thought.

            “You have no pity for me.  Jyn took the piss for a week after you caught the snitch first last year,” he answered.

            Rey’s mischievous grin matched Jyn’s.  Bodhi crept around Cassian to lean against the backs of their chairs.  He struck up a conversation with Rose, who only cared about Quidditch because they played and was thoroughly sick of how much they’d gone on about it so far this term.  Cassian sat on the ground at her feet and leaned against the plush chair.

            “Still taking Ancient Runes?” he asked.

            “Of course,” Rey said and threw her legs over the arm of her chair to give him more room.  Finn had stopped paying attention to their conversation at the first mention of Ancient Runes and turned to join Rose and Bodhi’s.  “What are you doing after Hogwarts anyway?”

            Cassian shrugged lightly, but she watched his gaze track to the green-eyed brunette chatting with Poe.  “Jyn wants to join the Aurors.  I suppose that works fine for me.  Always thought I’d end up in something like that.”  He looked back up at her.  “Still going for Cursebreaking?”

            She nodded.  “Professor Organa said she knows some people and might be able to get me an interview at least.  Muggle name doesn’t go far, you know.”

            Cassian understood.  At least he’d inherited a recognizable name from his father, but he’d grown up a half-blooded orphan after both his parents were killed in Snoke’s last uprising.  She couldn’t imagine being sorted into Slytherin with that weighing on his shoulders.  The Ersos had all but taken him in.  Rumor had it he lived with them over summer break.  She asked him about his break instead.

            “It was good,” he said with a small smile.  “Lyra kept trying to buy me things.  I picked up some shifts at the Leaky Cauldron.  You should’ve come by.”

            She should have, but it was difficult for her to get away from the orphanage for anything but work.  The owl had been hard enough to explain.  Poe had offered to take him for the summer, but she couldn’t bear parting with BB, her only connection to the wizarding world.

            “Think you can get me a job?” she teased.

            He cocked his head at her.  “Didn’t have you down as a bartender.”

            Rey laughed.  “Yeah, I guess I’m not.  Gotta do something for the summer though.”

            Cassian nodded sympathetically.  “Talk to Professor Organa.  I know Solo owns shops in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.  I hear he’s looking for some help this summer.”

            She nodded.  Rey had met Han Solo several times when he’d come around Hogwarts and at his pub in Hogsmeade.  But when Cassian had first called him Solo, her mind had gone to his son instead.  She would look into that, though.  That would make for a fun summer.

            “Are any of you planning on returning?” Kay drawled, his long, lanky form flickering in the firelight.

            “You could have come with us,” Cassian fired back.

            Jyn tipped her head back and gave him a sarcastic smile.  “He’s too much of a stick in the mud to have fun.”

            Kay’s dispassionate eyes slid to her and he quirked an eyebrow.  “There’s a forty percent chance you fall off that chair and injure yourself, Erso.”

            “Forty percent?” Jyn laughed.  “Did you do the math on that yourself?”

            Kay’s face didn’t change.  It was almost frightening how little emotion he showed.  “The odds increased by twenty percent because you’re sitting on Poe’s armrest.  He’s far more likely to push you off.”

            Jyn turned back to Cassian.  “I think he missed me.”

            Kay pushed her off and said, “one hundred percent chance.”


	10. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are many hidden things in Hogwarts, some discovered, some not, some sinister, some helpful. But all of them are at least a little bit dangerous...

            Rey woke up to absolute mayhem.  This was not the norm in the Hufflepuff dormitories.  For a brief moment, she wondered if she’d fallen asleep in the Gryffindor common room after studying so late last night.  But then someone wrenched open the circular door and roused all the sixth-year girls from sleep.  Jo Weasley ignored their protests and marched up to Rey’s bed.  She shook her by the arm even though she was already awake.

            “I’m awake.  For Merlin’s…what, Jo?!” she snapped.  Only the thinnest ray of sunlight filtered in through the round windows.

            “I don’t know.”  The redhead’s voice shook.  “You’d better come quick.”

            Rey came fully awake at that.  Jo had never looked so shaken, her face pale and bloodless lips trembling.  She launched herself out of bed and followed the seventh-year prefect back to her dormitory.  Three of the other girls who inhabited the room were up too, crouched over the slumped form of their fifth roommate. 

            Rey pushed through the crowd to get to her.  “Don’t touch her, Rey,” one of them warned.  She didn’t but crouched over her to get a better look.  It was Maisey Strickland, a usually chipper and sweet seventh-year Hufflepuff.  But now a flush covered her face beneath a tangled mess of blonde hair and a furious rash spread over her arms from fingertip to shoulder.  She was unconscious but twitched every few seconds.  Rey held out her arms and pressed the other girls back.

            “Jo, go get Eliza.  Tell her to bring her potions kit.  Sarah, find Professor Kenobi and tell him what’s happened.  He should be in his office this time of day.  Everyone else go to the common room,” Rey said.  The girls moved to obey her at once.

            In an instant, Eliza appeared at her side.  She carried a worn leather case that contained her supply of healing potions.  Eliza had been prepping to be a Mediwitch for three years and Healer Cash Zarrin had complimented her potions.  The witch, although usually cool and collected, stared at Maisey’s prone form with wide eyes.

            “Do you know what it is?” Rey asked her.  Wordlessly, she shook her head.  Rey had to snap her fingers in front of her face to regain her attention.  “Eliza, she needs help.”

            “Right.”  Eliza blinked and returned to herself.  She opened the case and started rifling through the potions within.  Her eyes darted back and forth between Maisey and the potions she had with her.  “I don’t want to do anything that could make her worse.” 

            Eliza waved her wand and muttered an incantation.  “She has a fever,” the witch muttered.  “A high one.  Have you ever seen anything like this?”  Rey shook her head.  “And this rash.”

            When she waved her wand again, Rey recognized the cooling spell she cast over her.  She pulled a small potion’s vial from her case, slipped on a pair of dragon hide gloves, and dropped a few drops of a clear potion into Maisey’s mouth.  The redness seemed to fade from her cheeks a little.  Eliza cast the same spell, which Rey guessed checked her vitals, over the prone figure and muttered to herself.

            “I think she’s stabilized for now,” Eliza said, conjuring a cool cloth and placing it on her forehead.  “I can’t do much else.  This rash is unusual.  I’ve never read of anything like it.  And it could react with any other potions I give her.  Did you send someone for Healer Zarrin?”

            “Jo went to find Professor Kenobi.  If she can get the story out, he’ll get Healer Zarrin,” Rey told her, and Eliza nodded, satisfied.  “I don’t understand.  I saw Maisey yesterday.  She seemed her usual self.”

            “She’s curious,” Eliza offered.  “Maybe she got into something?  Maybe it was just an accident.  She’s taking NEWT-level Potions, isn’t she?  Those can have a bad reaction sometimes.”

            Rey nodded but didn’t know what to make of this.  It was relatively rare for anyone at Hogwarts to have anything more than a brief cold or headache.  Zarrin’s potions usually did the trick, and the house elves enchanted the food to keep sickness at bay.  Certainly, nothing so extreme as Maisey’s condition had ever occurred.

            Her thoughts and Eliza’s continued attentions were interrupted by the entrance of Professor Kenobi and Healer Zarrin.  Both men looked uncharacteristically grave.  Rey yielded her position to the healer and stepped back a few paces to confer with Professor Kenobi as Zarrin worked.

            “What happened, Rey?” he asked her.  “How’s Ms. Strickland?”

            “It’s hard to say, professor,” Rey answered him, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off Maisey’s prone form.  “Eliza’s been doing her best, but she hasn’t woken up.  I don’t know what happened.  I saw her yesterday and she was fine.”

            “You did well in stabilizing her,” Healer Zarrin told Eliza.  “This rash is strange.”

            “Will you speak to the other girls?  Ms. Weasley has had a fright.  We need to know what happened here, if they saw anything at all.”

            Rey nodded.  “You’ll let me know how she is?”

            Professor Kenobi turned his warm eyes on her with the barest sad smile.  “Of course.”

            Rey accepted his answer and left the dormitory.  She found the rest of the seventh-year girls in the common room.  A larger crowd had gathered from the rest of the house, including her sixth-year roommates, as the word spread about Maisey’s condition.  They sat huddled together in the round common room, robes and blankets wrapped around their shoulders to fend off the morning chill.  They all looked up at her expectantly when she entered, hope and fear on their faces. 

            Rey felt wholly inadequate to help them through this, but they all looked to her, even Jo.  She stopped and cleared her throat.  “Will the seventh-year girls please come with me?  Everyone else, stay here.”  She could feel their fear like a palpable presence in the air.  “I don’t know anything yet.  Maisey’s stable, and Healer Zarrin is taking care of her.  When I find something out, I’ll tell you.”

            They seemed to accept that explanation.  The four other seventh-year girls followed her back into the hallway.  She led them not into their own room but into hers, which was empty now that its occupants had vacated it for the common room.  She took a deep breath and turned to face them.

            “I need to know if you saw anything, heard anything.  If Maisey’s been acting odd the last few days or if she mentioned anything out of the ordinary.  Just anything you think might help,” she said.  Four sets of wide eyes stared back at her.

            “Does that mean Healer Zarrin doesn’t know what’s wrong with her?” one of the girls choked, a small, slender girl who Rey knew was friends with Maisey.  Jo wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

            “Not yet, but it’s early.  He’ll find out, I’m sure of it.  But he needs any information you can give him,” Rey said.

            “She was fine yesterday,” one whispered.

            “Excited about her classes,” said another.

            Jo’s eyebrows scrunched.  “She’s been going on about something she found.  She wanted to show us, but I don’t know what it was.  I thought it was one of her usual things, just some illustration in a book.”

            The short girl’s face crumpled, and she leaned into the comforting presence of Jo beside her.  “She told me about that too and I brushed her off.  Maybe if I had just listened, she wouldn’t be like this now.”

            “It’s not your fault.”  Rey reached out to comfort her.  “It may be nothing.  We don’t know if that’s related.  Is there anything else?” she asked gently.

            “Everything else about her was normal,” Jo said.  “She didn’t eat much yesterday and complained of a headache, but I thought nothing of it.”

            “Come to think of it,” the short girl said.  Rebecca, that was her name.  “I didn’t see her at all on Tuesday.”

            Rey’s brow creased.  “At all?  You share a room.”

            Rebecca nodded, equally confused.  “I know.  I think I saw her for breakfast, but we don’t have classes together on Tuesday and I didn’t see her at all in the evening.  But she was there in the morning, sleeping like the dead.”

            “I didn’t see her either,” Jo added.  “I thought it was odd too.  Maisey never misses lunch with us.  I didn’t get a chance to ask her where she was, either.”

            Rey nodded.  It was all so puzzling.  Maisey didn’t disappear often.  In fact, Rey usually saw her in the common room no matter what time of day.  She always gave her such a wide smile, blonde curls bouncing.  Where had she gone?  Did that have anything to do with her mysterious illness?

            Rey thanked them and led them back into the common room.  She went back to the seventh-year dormitory to see how Maisey was doing.  To her surprise, Healer Zarrin had conjured a floating stretcher in her absence and lifted Maisey onto it.  Professor Kenobi stood off to one side with concern on his face.

            She entered right as Healer Zarrin enchanted the stretcher to float behind him and turned to Professor Kenobi.  “I’ll see what I can do.  The girls can come back in here, but they shouldn’t touch her things until Leia can get in here and do a sweep for dark magic.  Just in case.  I don’t think that’s what we’re dealing with here, but you can never be too sure in these times.”

            He gave them all a reassuring smile and left with Maisey.  Professor Kenobi followed him out to keep the Hufflepuffs away from the stretcher.  Eliza and Rey trailed after them, unsure.  If possible, the Hufflepuffs huddled together tighter as Healer Zarrin left.  As the barrels closed behind him, they all started talking at once.

            Professor Kenobi held a hand up for silence.  “Ms. Strickland will be just fine.  Healer Zarrin is unsure of the cause of her condition, but, rest assured, she is in excellent hands.  We must continue about our days as usual, but I will make sure the prefects are informed of Ms. Strickland’s condition at every update.  You may see them for information.”

            Muttering broke out amongst the Hufflepuffs, but there were no questions left to ask Professor Kenobi that he had the answers to.  He informed the seventh-years that they could return to their dormitories for their things but warned them strictly not to touch any of Maisey’s things until the cause of her illness had been identified.  He called Rey over to him and took her aside out of earshot from the crowd.

            “I don’t want this to be common knowledge, but Healer Zarrin is concerned about her condition.  He has never seen such a reaction to anything.  If necessary, she will be transported to St. Mungo’s, but it does not seem that extreme yet.  Take care of our house, Ms. Niima.  If anyone needs to take the day off from class, feel free to issue excuses to them.”

            Leaving Hufflepuff House in her care, Professor Kenobi left.  Even Helga Hufflepuff’s picture over the fireplace looked concerned.

            Maisey and her mysterious condition distracted Rey for the rest of the day.  She focused as best as she could in her lessons but found her notes less than perfect.  Poe, Finn, and Rose shot her concerned glances throughout the day.  Against her better judgement, she felt like she had somehow failed Maisey, though she couldn’t be expected to watch over everyone all the time.

            At every interval between classes and all evening, the Hufflepuffs bombarded her for updates on Maisey’s condition.  She gave them as best as she could, though little had changed over the course of the day.  She still had not woken up.  Her rash remained unaffected.  She was stable.  Healer Zarrin was doing his best.  She had instructed everyone to leave Jo alone about it.  The event weighed the prefect’s shoulders down enough as it was.  Rey navigated their fears and concerns, soothing where she could.

            By the end of the day, she was exhausted and so distracted that she nearly forgot her rounds with Solo.  That prospect seemed less than appealing to her just then.  Sure, he had agreed to be civil with her and their few interactions over the course of the week hadn’t been so terrible, but she didn’t know if she could bear his sarcasm tonight.  But she was satisfied to find the common room empty and everyone at least mostly calm when she left for her rounds.

            Solo frowned at her from his perch against the stone wall when she exited the common room.  “You look awful,” he told her bluntly.

            “Thanks,” she muttered.  “Charming as ever, Solo.”

            His frown deepened as the bells chimed overhead.  “Cutting it close, aren’t we, Niima?”

            It was his usual line, no matter what time she joined him.  But this week she felt exhaustion dragging on her eyes.  “Yep,” was all she answered. 

            He fell into step beside her, matching his long stride to hers.  For a while, he didn’t say anything more, just flicked his wand to check empty classrooms.  She copied his movements with less than the usual energy.

            “Saw your team roster,” he said.  Quidditch, she thought.  He was talking about Quidditch.  She could do that, sure.  “I thought you Hufflepuffs were actually going out for the cup this year.”

            “We go out for the cup every year,” she said.

            He frowned at her again, but she paid him no mind.  “Could have fooled me.  You’ll need a stronger showing than that.  Or were you planning on finding yourself in the mud again this year?”

            “Cassian didn’t put me in the mud last year,” she reminded him.

            Suddenly, he wheeled around and stopped just in front of her, blocking her path.  She blinked up at him.  “What’s wrong with you?” he demanded.

            “I’m _tired_ , Solo,” she said and tried to sidestep him, but he just stepped in front of her again, that infuriating frown still in place.  “Stop.  I’m not in the mood tonight.”

            She expected him to make a quip about that, but he just leveled that dark stare on her.  “You’re more than tired.”

            “What do you want from me?  I’m doing rounds, aren’t I?” she protested.  She thought about trying to sidestep him again but knew it would be a futile effort.

            “I don’t give a shit about rounds, Rey.  Say something.  You’re never this bland.  Tell me Sloane’s lucky to get her ass in the air on her broom.  You never let me get away with saying shit like that.”

            “I didn’t know you cared about me or my snark, Solo.”  She was too tired for quips, too tired for sass and snark.  He could take all of that and shove it up his entitled ass.  He continued to stare her down. 

            “What happened?” he asked.

            Rey squinted up at him.  Was he really so dense?  “Maisey fell ill this morning.  She’s a seventh-year Hufflepuff,” she added because she doubted he kept track of any member of her house that wasn’t on the Quidditch team or somehow relevant in his classes.  “Healer Zarrin hasn’t been able to figure out what caused it or even what her illness is.  I’m worried about her.”

            Solo’s eyebrows crinkled.  “Surely, Healer Zarrin will be capable of finding answers to her predicament.  His skill has been sufficient enough to treat all other incidents at Hogwarts.”

            Rey sighed.  Of course, he wouldn’t understand.  “Yes, but she’s my friend and my responsibility and I’m concerned about her.  Besides, this could just be the start of something spreading throughout the school and, if we don’t know what it is, how can it be treated?”  She shook her head.  “Everyone’s been coming to me for answers all day and I haven’t been able to give them any.”

            “I see,” Solo said finally.  “I’m sorry about your friend.  I realize it must be hard to not be able to do anything to help her.”

            Rey looked at him in surprise.  That was, by far, the nicest thing Solo had said to her in recent memory, maybe ever.  The only other time she could think of something nice he’d said to her was back in fourth year, when he’d told her she was the best in Charms by far.  She didn’t know what to make of this semi-nice Ben Solo.

            “Thank you,” she managed.  They continued along their route as if nothing had happened.  Rey was again startled to discover that she felt a little better.

            After several minutes of silence, Solo spoke again, “you could look into the matter yourself, if you believe they will not be able to learn the cause of it.”

            Rey had considered it but only briefly.  Maisey’s condition had not gotten so bad as to merit an unauthorized search of the castle for dangerous things.  She could end up doing more harm than good.  “Why would I be able to discover something that they could not?”

            “Because you’re capable and intelligent in your own right.”  Rey almost stopped walking.  She should really be asking after his health, if he was going to keep giving her unsolicited compliments.  “There are things in this castle that no one has seen for centuries.  Some of them, only students care to try to find.”

            A prickling sensation crawled up her spine.  “Do you know something about this?”

            Solo gave her a hard look and she regretted the question.  Of course, he didn’t.  She may believe many terrible things about Ben Solo, but potentially unleashing an unknown decease upon Hogwarts was not one of them.  “No.  But I’ve heard rumors about the things hidden in the castle.  I haven’t gone looking for many of them myself, but others have.”

            “Like Poe.”  Rey sighed again.  “If there’s something dangerous in the castle, I’d be surprised if Poe hasn’t already found it.”

            A ghost of a smile flickered across Solo’s face.  “The obvious ones, maybe, but Dameron doesn’t have the intelligence to find ancient hiding places guarded by layers of spells.”

            Dig against Poe aside, Rey wasn’t sure if Solo even knew what he’d just implied.  That while Dameron may not possess the wits necessary to unravel some mysteries within Hogwarts, Rey did.  She couldn’t help but feel a little flattered at the compliment.  Solo possessed no small intellect himself. 

            “You think something hidden inside the castle could have caused this?” she asked.  “Something ancient that no one has seen for a long time?  Do you think it’s dark magic?”

            Solo shrugged.  “I’m only guessing.  Give it some time.  If no one can figure out what’s wrong with her, perhaps there is cause to wonder if she stumbled upon something meant to remain a secret.  I can’t say if it is what you’d call dark magic.  What most wizards call dark magic is merely misunderstood.”

            “Misunderstood, maybe, but used for the wrong purpose,” she pointed out.

            He shot her a glare.  “Do you really want to have a debate over dark magic now?”  She shook her head.  “Neither do I.  In this case, though, it could be something as simple as a defensive spell gone awry.  It’s hard to tell.”

            She shook her head to chase away thoughts of ancient magic slumbering inside the castle walls.  “Healer Zarrin will probably have it solved in a few days anyway.”


	11. Butterbeer, Hogsmeade, and Mysterious Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year arrives with a shadow still clinging to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge shout-out to my constant readers who have been with this story for the past few weeks. You're the best! And a huge welcome to any new readers. I hope you enjoy :) Stay tuned, next chapter on Saturday.

            Two days later, the Hufflepuffs had gotten no new information, and Healer Zarrin was no closer to discovering the cause of Maisey’s mysterious illness.  Thankfully, Rey and everyone else had something to distract them from their worries, even for just a few hours.  The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was upon them.

            Rey rounded up the third-year students, who couldn’t contain their excitement, and led them to the grand entrance of Hogwarts, where Professor Organa stood to collect their signed permission slips.  She could hardly contain her excitement better than the young students about to embark on their first trip into Hogsmeade.  Rose bounded along beside her like a child on Christmas.

            “Where should we go first?” her friend asked.  “It’s morning still.  Zonko’s?  We’ve got to go to the Shrieking Shack on the first visit of the year.”

            “We’re not going to the Shrieking Shack this time, Rose,” Rey insisted, eyeing the way the third-years’ faces lit up when she’d mentioned it.  “It’ll be too crowded and then it’s not spooky at all.  We’ll go for Halloween, maybe, or in November.”

            “Fine,” Rose conceded.  “I need a new quill, though.  And we should check the new stock at Dervish and Banges.”

            Rey nodded along, but her thoughts drifted back to Maisey and the conundrum of her illness.  Two days and no progress at all.  Healer Zarrin was an excellent mediwizard, a veteran of the highest ranks at St. Mungo’s.  In all six of her years at Hogwarts, he had never failed to diagnose and treat every student that came through the Hospital Wing, including the time in her fourth year when half the castle came down with Dragon Pox.

            Rey smiled at Professor Organa and handed her an alphabetized stack of permission slips for the third-year students trailing behind her.  The silver-haired professor matched every slip of parchment to the corresponding student and ushered the Hufflepuffs into the Saturday morning light.  She gave Rey and Rose an affectionate smile.

            “Enjoy your time at Hogsmeade, ladies.”  She glanced out at the crowd of third-years skipping towards the little town.  “I do hope they don’t get into too much trouble.”

            Rey laughed.  “I’d worry more about the Gryffindors, professor.”

            Professor Organa cast her eyes towards the sky.  “I always worry about the Gryffindors.”

            Rey and Rose met Poe and Finn just outside the enormous doors of Hogwarts.  Poe had his face tipped back into the wavering September sun.  With October rapidly approaching, a slight chill rode on the breeze that ghosted their faces.  Rey had opted for a jumper and simple jeans in place of her school robes.  She hated wearing her school robes and avoided it whenever she could.  Both she and Rose had each wrapped one of their house scarves around their necks.  Finn, she noticed, had either borrowed or stolen one of Poe’s brown leather jackets.

            “Stop sunbathing,” she called to Poe.  “You’re holding us back.”

            He grinned and pushed off the wall, taking Finn with him.  “Bout time you got down here.  We were ready to leave without you.”

            “No, we weren’t,” Finn said.

            “Spoil sport,” Poe chided him, but the smile didn’t leave his face.

            It was a beautiful day for Hogsmeade.  The clouds that had plagued them all week and made their Quidditch practices a soggy mess had parted to reveal a clear blue sky.  Rey tucked her scarf and jumper up closer around her neck and shivered.  It should have been warmer for how beautiful it was out. 

            The four friends walked the path to Hogsmeade in easy companionship.  Rose and Poe bickered all the way about where they should go first, while Rey and Finn only occasionally chimed in with their own thoughts.  Everyone agreed that they had to visit Zonko’s, Honeydukes, The Three Broomsticks, and Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop, since Rose insisted that she needed a new one.  Rey reached into her pocket and felt the few coins she’d saved up just for this occasion. 

            The rest of Hogwarts—or, at least, everyone third year and up—drifted down to Hogsmeade around them.  The younger students ran towards the village and dodged between clusters of their elders.  The veterans took their time heading down.  Hogsmeade, although it no longer held the thrill and novelty that it had in younger years, was still a treat, no matter how old they got.  It felt nice to be out of the castle and free to roam and do whatever they wished.  Rey wrapped Finn’s arm in her own.

            “So, how’s Quidditch going?” she asked him.  On her other side, she felt more than saw Poe prick up his ears at the mention of Quidditch.

            “I know what you’re doing, Rey.  You can’t weasel information out of me like that.  Try Poe.  You know he’ll get talking about Quidditch and tell you too much.”

            Rey gave him an innocent look.  “Can’t I just ask my best friend about one of his favorite pastimes?”

            Finn rolled his eyes at her, and she gave up for the moment.  He was right.  She’d be able to weasel something out of Poe.  New Quidditch captain or not, she doubted he had suddenly grown a compacity for keeping secrets over the summer.  The official start of Quidditch season was rapidly approaching, though the first match was not until the second weekend of November, but Slytherin was set to play Gryffindor first.

            Poe leaned around Rose to join their conversation.  “If you beat us at Quidditch, Rey, I’ll never speak to you again.”

            Rey scoffed.  “I _will_ beat you at Quidditch, Poe.  You said that last year and yet here we are.  I don’t think this year will be any different.”

            “It will,” Finn said.  “We’ll win and then Poe won’t have to make good on his threat.”

            “And what will you do?” she asked, elbowing her friend in the side.  “Will our friendship cease too?”

            Finn gasped at her in mock horror.  “Rey, I can’t believe you would think so low of me.  I’d have to at least speak to you come spring.”

            She laughed and turned her sights towards Hogsmeade.  They caught up with Jyn and her rowdy group of friends.  Bodhi and Kay had dissolved into an argument that was mostly held on the tall Ravenclaw’s side.  The Head Boy seemed to disagree with him but listened in silence to what Kay had to say.  Poe picked up a stick and poked Jyn from behind.

            “Stop it,” she snapped and snatched his twig, breaking it in half.  “I’m still sore from your damned Quidditch practice yesterday.”

            “Jyn!” Poe scolded.  “There are enemies present!  Remember what we said.”

            The Gryffindor rolled her eyes.  “Yeah, yeah, whatever, I’m not supposed to tell Cassian anything that happens in Quidditch practice.”

            “Not that she ever does,” Cassian muttered.  “She just complains.”

            Poe pointed between them.  “That’s what I’m talking about!  You’ll let something slip.”

            Jyn turned and elbowed him in the stomach hard.  “Shut up, Dameron.  You may be Quidditch captain, but I don’t have to listen to you.  You’re the one always running your mouth.  I bet Niima knows more about our strategy than I do.”

            “To be fair,” Finn interjected.  “He hasn’t told Rey anything yet.  I don’t think.”

            Rey gave them all an enigmatic smile and refused to confirm Finn’s statement.  Kay and Bodhi had stopped their own conversation along the way.  “Are we going to hear anything today besides Quidditch talk?” came Kay’s flat voice.

            “Thank you!” Rose said, pointing to the Ravenclaw.  “I’m not the only one!  I also can’t believe I’m agreeing with Kay.”

            “Where are you headed in Hogsmeade?” Finn asked instead.

            Jyn grinned widely.  “The Three Broomsticks right off.  Han promised me some Firewhiskey to smuggle back into the school.”

            Poe’s ears perked up again at the mention of Firewhiskey.  “Oh!  Will he give me some too?  My store is a little low.”

            Jyn shrugged.  “If you get there before the professors, probably.  Organa will skin him alive if she finds out he’s selling illusion-charmed Firewhiskey to students again, so don’t be the one to get us caught, Dameron.”

            Poe shrugged.  “If they’re checking, I’ll have Rey stash it in her bag.  Professor Organa never questions her.”  Jyn seemed to accept that solution.  “We have to start building our stores for Quidditch season early.  Won’t be a Gryffindor party if the Firewhiskey runs dry.”

            Jyn just shrugged.  “If we win, I’ll go through the secret passage and get some Butterbeer and Firewhiskey for the party.”  She turned her eyes on the three prefects and one Head Boy present among them.  “If anyone rats me out…”

            Bodhi’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.  Rey laughed.  “Erso, you’ve been going down that passage for years and none of us have ratted you out.”

            Jyn’s face twitched into a smile.  “But what if Hufflepuff loses?”

            Rey’s smile widened.  “Then, you’d better be extra careful which passage you choose.”

            They reached the town of Hogsmeade.  The close-set buildings had a certain old charm to them in the morning light.  If she turned around, she could see the towers and spires of Hogwarts looming over the only entirely magical town in Britain.  The townspeople were out in full force today too, greeting the students variously with smiles and grumbles.  After many pleading looks from Poe, they went straight to the Three Broomsticks and hoped that the third-years didn’t crave Butterbeer too early. 

            Han Solo leaned against the counter and served a large mug of frothing Butterbeer to a student who looked too small to carry it.  He lifted it with wide eyes and tottered back to his table with other third-year students.  That was the only table occupied in the place.  The professors were still busy checking permission slips and shepherding students from the school.  And ten in the morning was a little early for the Three Broomsticks for anyone except the overly excited children.

            Han greeted them with his characteristic slanted smile and braced his hands on the bar.  Even aging as he was, with gray hair and a lined face, he had a certain devilish roguishness to him.  He’d owned a bar in London that he purchased with his meager inheritance since graduating from Hogwarts.  That business had been only a front, though.  It was now well-known in the wizarding world that Han Solo was a smuggler, but his black-market dealings had been a lifesaver for the Rebellion under Leia Organa.  He’d funneled all of their supplies to them and fought alongside Luke Skywalker and his sister.

            The Three Broomsticks had come later.  Not the institution, no.  The famed Hogsmeade bar had a long history of catering to students and locals alike.  Han had purchased it from the family of the previous owner after he died and had kept the tradition alive.  The warm wood that paneled the interior always reminded Rey of the Hufflepuff Common Room, if with a little more alcohol and a lot more noise.

            “What can I do you for?” he asked, surveying their large group.  “Bit early for you lot to be here, isn’t it?”

            “Hey, Han,” Jyn greeted him and slid onto one of the bar stools.  Rey noted that she’d casually put a thick wooden beam between her and the sight of the third-years.  “How’s the summer been?”

            He nodded.  “Good, good.  Slow without you lot, of course, but steady.”  His eyes flickered to Rey.  “How’s the Hufflepuff team looking this year, Rey?”

            Rey grinned and slid onto the stool beside Jyn.  Han had been a star player in his day.  A Seeker, like Rey.  Once he found out that she was Hufflepuff’s standing Seeker, he’d given her a goldmine of pointers.  “Good, as always, Han.  I’ll tell you about it when these spies aren’t listening over my shoulder.”

            “We’ve got to beat Gryffindor and Ravenclaw this year, Rey,” he said as if members of both houses weren’t standing around the bar.  “Slytherin too, sure.  But if we don’t beat Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, I’ll never hear the end of it from Luke and Leia.  We’ve got a bet going.”

            Rey winked at him.  “We’ll beat them.”

            He leaned back and nodded, satisfied, even as several of his customers made indignant protests.  “What are you actually doing here?”

            “Firewhiskey,” Jyn said.  “We’re gonna need it for when Gryffindor beats the snot out of Hufflepuff later this season.”

            “Better watch yourself,” Han muttered.  “How many bottles?”  Jyn and Poe requested five each, Cassian and Kay two each.  Rey, Bodhi, and Rose rolled their eyes.  Han clapped them down on the bar, but what he set down were not Firewhiskey bottles.  Instead, it was an assortment of Honeydukes candy, broken and mended quills, and a few rolls of parchment.  “Make sure you keep these separate from anything else you buy.  Not my problem if you get back with ten rolls of parchment and can’t remember which ones are Firewhiskey.”

            Jyn scooped five of them into her bag with an excited look that made Rey question her decision to look the other way.  “How do we know they’re actually Firewhiskey?” Jyn asked.

            Han gave her a look.  “Watch yourself,” he repeated.  “You know damn well they are.  If Leia catches you, don’t drag my name through the mud.”  They all stashed their newly acquired Firewhiskey, paid, and told Han they’d be back later for Butterbeer.  Or, in Jyn’s case, shots of Firewhiskey.  “Rey, listen to me, kid.  Make them pay for all their big talk.  Smash ‘em into the ground if you have to.”

            She set Han another grin.  “Don’t worry, you can count on me.”

            When they left the Three Broomsticks, the streets of Hogsmeade were bustling with students.  Most of the older students had made their slow way from Hogwarts and trailed between their favorite shops while the younger students scurried between them.  Rey and her friends parted from Jyn and the others to duck into Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop to fulfill Rose’s request for a new quill.  In the end, they all decided they needed new quills and Finn bought Rey one because he insisted her last one was shot, despite her protests. 

            They ran into Jyn’s crew again in Zonko’s, where she had a bulging bag of tricks from the shop.  Rey didn’t want to look inside to see what pranks and tricks would soon be unleashed on Hogwarts.  At least most of their pranks were confined to the Gryffindor dormitories.  Poe was bad enough when he got an idea in his head.

            Her friend braced his hands on his hips.  “Alright,” he announced to them.  “We need to stock up.”

            “Don’t look at me,” Rey answered.  “You used some of this stuff on the Hufflepuff Common Room last year.  I’m not helping you.”

            Poe’s face fell, and he turned to plead with her.  “Come on, Rey.  You said you forgave me after that.  I didn’t do any harm.”

            Rey crossed her arms.  “Seven first- and second-years had to go to the hospital wing with boils on their faces, Poe.”

            “Rey’s right,” Rose chimed in and shook her head.  “You’re the reason why I have to memorize a password every week.”

            “And this week’s is…” Poe prompted.  Both girls hit him.  “But…but look at this stuff!  Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, that’s new!  Imagine the possibilities.”

            “I’ll help you as long as you’re not pranking my Hufflepuffs this time,” Rey compromised.

            Poe bit the inside of his cheek.  She could tell that the decision was a hard one.  On the one hand, Rey and Finn jointly made sure his plans didn’t go awry or backfire on him and Rey knew many more useful spells than he did.  On the other hand, that was a quarter of the school he couldn’t directly target.  “But if they’re in a crowded space, say the Great Hall, I can still prank them?”

            “If it’s multiple houses together,” she allowed.  “Not just the Hufflepuff table.”

            Poe nodded with finality.  “Deal.  Come on!  Pranks await!”

            They spent so much time in Zonko’s that even Finn was complaining by the time Poe brought his many purchases to the counter.  Rey had talked him out of a few ludicrously expensive gadgets that wouldn’t have worked the way he wanted anyway.  His bag still rang up to more galleons than she had for the whole year.

            The crew made another stop in Honeydukes, where they ran into Hannah and Eliza.  The pair joined Rey and her friends for another stop at the Three Broomsticks.  Poe, Finn, and Rose each bought a bulging bag of candy from Honeydukes and all three swore up and down that they’d share with Rey.  They passed by Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop on their way to the Three Broomsticks and wrinkled their noses at the couples pressed close together.

            Finn cursed and looked at his watch.  “I forgot!  I can’t get Butterbeers with you.  I’m supposed to meet Daisy Abbott there in five minutes.”

            Poe turned with a crease between his eyebrows.  “Daisy Abbott?  Whatever for?”

            Rey seized her friend’s arm.  “Ooo, Finn, do you have a date?”

            Finn turned a little red around the ears and missed the faltering of Poe’s face, but Rey did not.  “Maybe.  I just asked her for a drink at the Three Broomsticks.”

            “Well,” Poe said and swallowed hard.  “Better not be late for your big date.”  He brushed some dust from Finn’s jacket and straightened it.  “Go get her, tiger.”

            Finn gave Poe an odd look before bidding them goodbye and heading towards the Three Broomsticks.  Rose twined her arm through Rey’s and raised her eyebrows in Poe’s direction.  He didn’t notice, too busy staring after Finn’s retreating back.  Rey had to shake her friend out of his stupor and drag them all to the Three Broomsticks for their own Butterbeers.  She purposely made sure that Poe was sitting with his back to Finn and Daisy’s table and hoped he wouldn’t turn around too many times to look at them. 

            Hannah glanced between Poe and Rey.  “So, rumor has it that Professor Imwe is leaving after this year.”

            That got Poe’s attention as well as everyone else’s at the table.  “It can’t be,” Rose said.  “He’s been at Hogwarts for years.  What else will he do?”

            Hannah shrugged.  “The Leaky Cauldron’s been profitable enough that he could just work that with Baze, I guess.”

            “I can’t imagine Professor Imwe leaving,” Rey said.  “He’s been our Transfiguration teacher the whole time.”

            Poe rolled his eyes.  “Last year, everyone said Tarkin was leaving.  The year before, it was Chewie.  Now, it’s Imwe.  There are always rumors, but he hasn’t said anything yet, and I don’t believe it.”

            Rey took a deep sip of her Butterbeer and earned a foam moustache, grateful that Hannah had successfully distracted Poe and redirected their conversation.  When she got to the bottom quarter of her glass, the conversation took a turn back to the darkness she had momentarily been free of.

            “Is there any word on Maisey?” Eliza asked.

            All faces at the table fell.  “Nothing new,” Rey answered.  She had gotten used to supplying her friends and house with information on the seventh-year’s condition.  “I spoke to Healer Zarrin this morning.”

            A crease appeared in the center of Eliza’s forehead.  “I don’t understand.  What could she have caught?”

            Rey shrugged.  A thousand possibilities had occurred to her, but none seemed to explain Maisey’s symptoms.  Not that Rey knew much about magical diseases and healing, but she knew that Eliza had been looking into it too out of curiosity.

            They left the Three Broomsticks and headed towards Hogwarts.  The sun had passed noon and tilted towards the horizon.  There was still some daylight left and an hour or more that they could remain in Hogsmeade, but everyone had had enough.  They joined the trickle of older students heading towards the castle.  Poe glanced behind them towards the hazy main street of the town, but Finn didn’t appear.

            Rey trudged back to her common room with the events of the week weighing on her shoulders.


	12. An Unlikely Partnership

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another student falls ill and the shadows lengthen around Hogwarts, but will two students finally start working together?

            Another week and a half passed and still Maisey remained in a magically-induced coma in the hospital wing.  Healer Zarrin had been able to discover next to nothing about her condition.  Extra healers had been called in from St. Mungo’s, but they too had made no headway. 

            Rey shouldered her bag and went down to breakfast before her morning Double Herbology.  The Great Hall seemed oddly subdued for breakfast.  Just as she took her seat beside Rose, the post arrived in a flurry of beaks and feathers.  Rey didn’t even look up.  BB sometimes flew in with the other owls for exercise, but she rarely received anything in the post.  She reached for a glass of pumpkin juice.

            As she woke up over her juice and the eggs she piled onto her plate, she realized that the Great Hall really was quieter than usual.  The Gryffindor table was as rowdy as always, but she turned to see the Slytherin table bent in silence over their meals.  Half the seats were empty.  She didn’t see Solo or Phasma among them.

            “What happened to the Slytherins?” she asked.  “Did they all take a Sleeping Draught?”

            “You didn’t hear?” Hannah asked and set down a piece of toast.  Rey shook her head.  “They found Gerald Steel—you know, the Slytherin fourth-year—passed out on the floor around six AM this morning.  They took him to the hospital wing, but Eliza says his symptoms sound like Maisey’s.”

            Rey dropped her fork with a clatter.  No wonder half the Slytherin table was empty and the prefects were missing.  If another case had appeared, then Maisey’s case wasn’t an isolated incident and it could spread to more students at Hogwarts. 

            “Rey?” Rose poked her in the side.  “Earth to Rey?  Are you ok?”

            “Yeah…I have to go.  I’ll see you later, okay?”  Rey shouldered her bag and left without another word or bite of her food.  Half of her eggs sat untouched.

            She ran the way to the Hospital Wing, dodging through students making their way to the Great Hall and giving her confused looks.  She arrived at the double doors of the hospital just as Professors Organa and Skywalker exited them.  Professor Skywalker nodded to her and moved on down the hall, but Professor Organa stopped at her urgency.

            “Is it true?” she asked before the older woman could say anything.  “Does Steel have the same thing as Maisey?”

            Leia Organa sighed, and her shoulders slumped with the weight of the castle.  “Yes, Ms. Niima, it does look that way.  Healer Zarrin should be able to confirm later today.”

            “And he still has no idea what Maisey has?” Rey asked in a rush.

            Leia Organa frowned and shook her head.  “I really must be getting to class, Ms. Niima,” she said.  Rey nodded and stepped out of her way, shoulders slumped.  The woman paused and placed a hand on Rey’s shoulder.  “I know you’re concerned.  We’ve barred the hospital wing for now, but you may go in and speak to Healer Zarrin.”

            The professor moved off down the hall and flicked her wand once behind her.  Rey pushed through the double doors that led to the airy hospital wing.  Shafts of morning light filtered through the cathedral-like windows and sent patterns of shadows crisscrossing the stone floor.  The wing held only two occupants, shielded with privacy curtains stretched around their cots.  The room, although spacious, was empty and silent and felt more like a funeral.  As she paused in the middle of the room, Healer Zarrin parted one set of curtains and stepped out.  He took several steps towards the middle of the room while looking down at his clipboard and started when he caught sight of her.

            “Ah, Ms. Niima.”  Although he had visibly flinched as he looked up, his voice came out as smooth and calm as the Black Lake on a clear day.  He glanced back at the curtains.  “Come to my office.”

            They left the spacious hospital wing for the small room just adjacent to it.  Rey had had little occasion to visit the hospital wing herself, except for the occasional Quidditch scrape or Pepper-Up Potion, but she always liked Healer Zarrin’s little office.  He had bottles of every concoction anyone could think of and always seemed to have no fewer than four cauldrons brewing at any given time.  Rumor had it that Zarrin brewed even the most complex potions in his arsenal, despite Tarkin residing at the school.  Rey couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep Tarkin away from healing potions.

            The healer stepped behind his messy desk and half-heartedly straightened some papers.  He looked exhausted.  She understood why when he shifted half a dozen enormous books to one side.  “I hope you’re not feeling ill, Ms. Niima.”

            “No,” she said at once.  “Not at all.  I’m sure it’s all anyone’s asking you about this week, but I’ve come about Maisey.  And I heard what happened to Steel and…”

            Healer Zarrin pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.  “I’m afraid I have nothing new to tell you.  I wish I did.  I believe I should be able to isolate the disease soon, especially now that I can see how it presents in two subjects.  There’s no cause for concern, though, Ms. Niima.  Your friends are well taken care of.”

            Rey knew he was offering comfort to her as a student, but his words rang hollow.  There _was_ cause for concern now that two students had fallen mysteriously ill and no one could determine the cause.

            “So, you think you could know what it is?” she asked.

            He opened his mouth, closed it again, and frowned.  “You’re a bright student, Ms. Niima.  There’s a lot to explore before I can be sure what they’ve contracted.”

            “You don’t know,” she said flatly, too worried to be concerned about offending the healer.  “Are there magical diseases so rare that you can’t identify them?”

            Healer Zarrin sighed.  “Magical diseases are even more difficult than Muggle ones.  It’s not always as simple as bacteria causing an infection.  Curses can present as illnesses.  Some items even carry magical properties that cause illness.”

            “And you don’t know which this is?” she asked, pinching the fabric of her skirt. 

            He shook his head, defeated like she’d never seen him before.  “It’s difficult to work backwards.  If I could find out where they contracted the illness, it would be easier to find the cure.”

            Bells rang overhead, signaling the end of breakfast.  Rey thanked Healer Zarrin and hurried from the hospital wing.  She had to sprint her way to Herbology and barely snuck in the greenhouse door before the bells rang again.  Poe and Finn shrugged at her from across the room.  The stools around them had already filled with other students.  She took one of the two empty seats with Eliza on one side and a gap on the other.  Professor Kenobi nodded to her. 

            “Good morning, class,” he said to the crowded greenhouse.  She’d been surprised at the beginning of the year to see that all four houses had been combined into one sixth-year Herbology class.

            Rey sank down onto her chair and caught her breath as Professor Kenobi opened the class.  Several minutes in, the door to the greenhouse opened again and Ben Solo slouched his way inside.  She expected Professor Kenobi to frown at him or take points from Slytherin, but he merely nodded in response to his muttered apology.  The Slytherin prefect took the only seat available to him, the one beside her.

            “Now, pair up.  You’ll need two people today,” Professor Kenobi said.  Eliza shot her an apologetic look and turned to her partner.  That left Rey with Ben Solo.  She turned and met his gaze.  He didn’t look as upset as she expected.  “Does everyone have a partner?  Excellent.  One person from each pair come up to the front and get a Snargaluff pod.”  Giggles ran throughout the room at the name.  Solo didn’t even look up.  “Yes, yes, the name is very amusing, but I assure you that you’ll find their vines less than amusing.”

            Solo didn’t seem inclined to move, so Rey went to the front and selected a Snargaluff pod from the collection of things that looked like gnarled stumps.  Poe sidled up to the table beside her.  “I’m sorry you got stuck with Solo,” he whispered as he took too long to select his own pod.  “I didn’t see you at breakfast.  Thought maybe you’d skive off.”

            She didn’t get a chance to say anything in response, not even that she’d only ever skived off Herbology once and it was when she’d had a headache, before she had to return to her stool to make room for the next student.  She set the twisted stump-like thing on the table between them.  Solo squinted at it.

            “Doesn’t look very dangerous, does it?” he muttered.  She shook her head.  But she’d done the required reading for the day’s class and knew that Snargaluffs packed a nasty punch when someone tried to go after their pod.  According to _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ , the thorns themselves could cut an arm to ribbons.

            “Dragonhide gloves on!” Professor Kenobi called.  “The object of this lesson is to retrieve the pod at the center of the Snargaluff unharmed.  It looks like this.”  He held up a pulsing green pod about the size of a grapefruit.  “Be warned.  As soon as you attempt to retrieve the pod, the Snargaluff will defend itself with thorny vines.  These can be very dangerous and will need to be somehow rendered harmless before the pod can be extracted.  I do hope you all did your reading for class today.  Phyllida Spore has given us some lovely suggestions on how to combat the vines.”  Professor Kenobi gave them all a deceptive smile.  “Good luck.”

            Rey eyed the unassuming stump between them and turned to Solo.  She found him already looking back at her.  “Do you want to get the pod or fight the vines?” he asked.

            Even after several weeks, Rey still hadn’t gotten used to his almost civil attitude.  “Did you do the reading?” she asked. 

He pressed his lips together before finally shaking his head.  “I meant to do it at breakfast,” he admitted.  He didn’t have to say the rest.  Something more important had intervened.

Rey nodded.  Prefect duties always came first.  “Then, I’ll fight the vines.  Spore suggests a good Freezing Charm, but it won’t hold for too long because of the plant’s properties, so you’ll have to be quick.  The pod’s at the center and you’ve got to reach in there to get it out.  Careful of the thorns.”

Solo nodded and didn’t even protest when she gave him instructions.  He secured his dragonhide gloves while she readied her wand.  A few of the other pairs had already begun to wrestle with their stumps.  One boy had vines wrapped up his arm to his elbow.  Poe had managed to knot a few of them together.  She shook her head.  Leave it to the Gryffindors to skip an important reading.

“Ready?” Solo asked. 

“Ready,” she answered and held her wand alert.  As soon as he reached for the stump, thorny vines rocketed out all around it and shot towards him.  Rey was ready.  “ _Immobulus!_ ” she cried, and the vines stilled, frozen in all contorted shapes.  Solo ducked under them at once and, in a second, he had a pulsing green pod in hand.  With their treasure liberated, the vines shot back into the Snargaluff and it looked once again like a harmless stump.

“Oh, well done!” Professor Kenobi cried.  “Excellent charm, Ms. Niima, and a quick hand, Mr. Solo.  Full marks, both.  There’s a pair that did their reading.”  Rey offered Solo a small smile and she thought he almost returned it.  “They’re best when they’re fresh, so nip over to the bowls and express your pod.”

They were the first to complete their task and so were the first to the set of bowls along the side of the greenhouse.  They had to dodge the flying vines to get there without dropping the delicate pod.  Solo held the pulsing green thing over the bowl but paused, unsure.  Rey picked up a small scalpel and handed it to him. 

“Just a small incision at the top,” she whispered to him and pretended to peer over his shoulder.  “Delicately.  Then, just pour it all out.”

He made a small cut at the top of the bulb as she’d said and poured a generous amount of greenish tuber-like things into the bowl.  They wriggled a little as they sat there in a way that was vaguely unappetizing.  Rey pointed her wand over the contents of the bowl and cast a silent spell.  Solo glanced at her curiously.

“Preservation spell,” she muttered.  “To keep them fresh.”

“Excellent job, Ms. Niima, Mr. Solo.  Get another Snargaluff,” Professor Kenobi said.  Solo turned in silence and went to the table to select another one for them. 

“I heard about Steel,” Rey muttered when he got back.  She secured her dragonhide gloves.  “Do you want to try combating the vines this time?”

He nodded and readied his wand but acted as if he hadn’t heard her first statement.  She reached for the pod, and Solo charmed the vines before they could even come close to her.  His magic prickled along her arms.  Rey snatched the pod from the depths of the Snargaluff and it returned to its usual harmless state.  She thought he had simply chosen not to answer her, but as they took their second pod to the line of bowls again, he spoke.

“Steel’s been taken to the hospital wing.  I understand there’s a Hufflepuff with a similar condition,” he said flatly.

Rey nodded.  “Maisey Strickland, a seventh-year.”  She paused to make the small incision in her pod and pour out its contents.  This time, Solo cast the preservation charm.  “What do you think it could be?”

There were only enough Snargaluffs for each student to deal with one, so they returned to their stools and surveyed their other classmates as they struggled.  Solo shrugged dispassionately.  “I really couldn’t say.  I’m no healer.”

“Aren’t you at least a little bit curious?” she asked him, careful to keep her voice low and to not appear as if she were deep in conversation with Ben Solo.  Finn and Hux were already shooting them curious looks.

“I suppose,” he said slowly.  “But I don’t see why that matters.  I thought you would have full confidence in Healer Zarrin, ever the optimistic Hufflepuff.”

“He’s a great healer, but that doesn’t mean that he can solve every problem,” she answered.  A girl two seats down from her leaned over and begged Rey to tell her how she’d finished so quickly.  Rey whispered the freezing charm to her and went back to her unlikely conversation with Solo.

“And you think _you_ can figure out what they have when the school’s healer can’t?”  He looked doubtful.  When he put it that way, she felt doubtful too.

“I think it’s better to have more people looking for the answer, especially if it can’t be found in all the usual places,” she said.

Professor Kenobi clapped his hands and flicked his wand to cast quick Freezing Charms on all the stumps still flailing their thorny limbs.  One Gryffindor disentangled himself from the mass of vines that had wound their way over him.  “Excellent work, class.  We’ll continue our unit on Snargaluffs next week.  In the meantime, continue the assigned reading and catch up if you failed to do it for this class.”  His eyes sparkled at his students good-naturedly, lingering on Poe’s knotted vines and the entangled Gryffindor.  “Up to the castle you go.  Can’t have you late for your next class.”

Rey tugged off her dragonhide gloves and stuffed them into her bag.  As she threw it over her shoulder, Solo stepped in her way.  The vision of him looming over her with a frown recalled their first encounter of the year on the train, when he’d ordered her to convince Paige to split them up.  They’d already come so far since then.  She hoped.

“Thank you,” he said so quietly that even Eliza beside her couldn’t possibly hear.  Those two words falling from Ben Solo’s lips startled her into both silence and stillness.  “For covering for me today.”

He didn’t seem to know what else to say.  With a stiff nod, he turned on his heel and marched out of the greenhouse.  Rey blinked at his receding back as Hux and Phasma fell into step beside him.  Finn blocked her vision and she hurried out of the greenhouse before they were late for their next class.

“Why were you talking to Niima?” she heard Phasma say.  “Since when do you associate with Mudblood filth?”

Rey winced internally and waited for Solo to join in on the pejorative slurs against her blood status.  He didn’t, just shrugged at his friends.  “Kenobi’s a stickler for the reading and I didn’t have it done for today.  Hufflepuff Princess always has the reading done.”

His words should have stung her, she thought, but they didn’t.  His muttered thank you stuck in her heart and head all the way up to the castle.  Even as her friends took up a line of questioning that sounded curiously familiar.

Rey met Solo outside her common room at their usual time.  Even on a day that had been so hectic for him, he was there at fifteen before the hour, leaning against the wall.  When he turned to look at her, she noted the dark circles beneath his eyes.  The trying day had taken its toll, if only in lack of sleep.

“Evening,” she said.  He returned the greeting only in a slow nod.  “How’s Slytherin house holding up?”

He blinked at her for a long minute before answering.  “You want to know how the Slytherins are doing?”

Rey brushed an invisible speck of dust off her uniform skirt and nodded.  “Hufflepuff house was a mess for a few days after Maisey’s illness.  I know it can be tough to deal with.”

Solo snorted and rolled his eyes and she was forcibly reminded that he rarely had a kind word for anyone, nevertheless a thank-you.  “Slytherins aren’t sniveling Hufflepuffs.  We don’t go crying when something happens.”

“Showing some emotion after a traumatic event isn’t weak,” she said patiently and expected his sneer.  “It’s normal and healthy.  Two students falling mysteriously ill one after another is frightening.”

He didn’t sneer.  He looked down at the stone ground and scuffed his shoe in the bit of dust gathered there.  “Some of the first- and second-years didn’t want to go to sleep tonight.  They thought it would happen to them.”

Rey nodded and felt her heart lift that she’d gotten Solo to open up even a fraction.  “It was the same with some of ours.  Some of the seventh-years who share her dorm were afraid to sleep in there too.”

Solo didn’t look up, as if he couldn’t both face her and admit that the events of the day had shaken his house.  “I think a few of the fourth-years are trying to sleep in the common room.”

Thin ice.  “Will you let them?”

He looked up at her then as if challenging her to question his methods.  “For tonight.  Tomorrow they have to go back to their dorms.”

Maybe it wasn’t the way she would have done it, but she could see his thought process.  Rey just nodded.  The bells tolled curfew overhead.  “Rounds?”  He pushed off the wall and stalked down the hall like this night was every other night.  “I’m still concerned about what’s happening.  With this illness.  If it spreads to more of the castle, it could be a real danger.  It already is for Maisey and Steel.”

Rey flicked her wand and checked the first few rooms.  Solo was silent for a long moment and she thought that he’d just chosen to ignore her continued musings.  “I thought about what you said,” he admitted finally.  “About finding answers in unusual places.”

“And?” she prompted when he found silent.

“And what?  Are you going to look for answers?” His dark eyes bore into hers and demanded that she have a plan of action.

“I hoped,” she ventured carefully.  “I hoped to look.  I hoped _we_ would look.”

“ _We?_ ”  He stopped walking.  She stopped too and felt the flush creep up her face.  They hadn’t come this far.  They were civil, but not allies, not friends.  “Did you just say ‘we’?”

“It makes sense,” she argued in her defense.  “Everyone else thinks Healer Zarrin will have this thing sorted next week and we can all go back to business as usual.  But it’s Hufflepuff and Slytherin who are down two members.  We look out for our own.”

His eyes hardened.  “So, I’m the last choice, huh?  All your brave little heroes turned you down, so you came to me?”

Rey grew angry with him for the first time in a while.  She had been keeping that usual wave of fury at bay to give him a chance.  To give their ill-conceived partnership a chance.  But it all came roaring back.  “I’ll do this on my own if you don’t care, Solo,” she hissed at him.  “I don’t need you to come play hero.  And no, I didn’t ask them.  I just had some misguided notion that you would care.”

She turned on her heel and marched down the hallway.  His footsteps didn’t sound on the stone behind her.  “I do care,” he called, his voice bouncing off the stone of the hall. 

Rey froze.  She turned and marched back, stopping only a few feet from him.  “What did you say?” she demanded.

“You’re right.  I do care,” he said like it pained him.  “If this thing is bigger than just two students, Hogwarts could be shut down.”  She could read between the lines.  Hogwarts could be shut down and then he’d be stuck in Organa Manor with only his mother and a legion of house elves for company.  “And I don’t like not knowing what’s going on in Slytherin.”

Selfish interest and house pride.  Not exactly the motivators she was looking for, but she’d take what she could get.  “So, you’ll help?”

His inscrutable dark eyes watched her, as if weighing his options.  “Yes,” he said at last.  “I guess I’ll help.  What did you have in mind?”

Her heart swooped in victory.  It wasn’t much.  He still didn’t look happy about this prospect of a partnership, but he had agreed to help.  She had convinced someone that she could do this.  Solo, of all people, the last man in the world to agree with her.

“Well,” she started slowly.  To be totally honest, she didn’t have much to go on at all.  She didn’t have a 12-step plan like bloody Solo probably wanted from her now that he had agreed to this reluctant partnership.  She almost glared at him.  She wasn’t happy about it either.  To be fair, he hadn’t said anything provoking in a few minutes.  “They’re from different houses, which means they had to come in contact with something in a semi-public place,” she ventured.

“Or someone,” he said.  She amended her statement to agree.  “Unless they were shagging.”

Rey rolled her eyes at him.  “Great.  Let’s jump to that conclusion, shall we?”

He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall, smirking at her.  “People do that, Niima.  Just because you’re not getting any…” She seriously considered hexing him.  “…doesn’t mean that no one is.”

“Solo, trust me, the last thing I want to talk about is your sex life or how much you know about who is shagging who,” she snapped.  “This is totally beside the point.  We have no evidence to suggest that they even knew each other, nevertheless were…”

“Go on, Niima, you can say it.  Fucking.”

“… _in a relationship_ ,” she snarled just to irritate him.  “Don’t you think it would be a wiser use of our time to investigate ways they could have encountered something _or someone_ in a common area?”

“Unless the saintly professors, your great heroes, have already checked all the public areas, as they should have logically done after one of them fell ill,” Solo said, still looking mildly amused.

“It doesn’t hurt to look again,” Rey argued, refusing to concede his point.

“It does if we’re wasting my precious time.”

She fumed at him.  “Are you going to be anything but argumentative?  So far, you’ve offered no suggestions of your own, just torn down everything I’ve said.  If you don’t want to help, Solo, then _fuck_ off and let me figure this out because right now you’re just getting in my way and really irritating me.”

“Watch that tongue, Niima.  Aren’t you supposed to be an upstanding prefect?”  Solo looked less than abashed at her outburst.  In fact, his smirk only grew.

“Aren’t you supposed to be something other than a pain in my ass?”  Something lit up in his eyes at that, and she finally felt like one of her hits had found its mark.

“Historically, no.”

“Are you ever planning on actually helping?”

He thought her question over for a moment, as if it were a serious question that required much debate.  “Very well.  What about the food?”

“The food?” she said blankly.

“Yes,” he said slowly, as if she were too thick to understand his form of human speech.  “The food.  You know, what we eat at meals.  What if it was something in the food?”

“On two different occasions?  That only effected those two students in a school of hundreds?”  She found the idea doubtful at best, but he had finally offered a suggestion and so she decided to humor him.  “Alright, I can talk to the house elves.  I know them fairly well.  They would be able to tell us if anything happened on those days.”

“Of course, you’re friendly with the house elves,” he muttered.  “There.  Sounds like we have a starting point.”

“And I think you should ask around Slytherin House.  See if anyone knows anything,” she added.  No way was he leaving her with all of the work. 

Solo narrowed his eyes at her.  “Are you going to ask around Hufflepuff House?”

“I already have,” she said, although she hadn’t done any such thing.  Not really. 

He took a slightly menacing step towards her.  “If you’re going to just start blaming Slytherins for this, I’m out, Niima.”

Rey held her ground, staring up at him and refusing to be cowed by his threatening stare.  “I’m not.  But you have to admit that it’s a possibility.”

“Same as it is in any other house.”

“Yes, Hufflepuffs are really prone to poisoning people,” she snapped and then sighed.  “Look, I’m not saying it was a Slytherin or some sort of evil deed brewing in your house.  But one of the victims was from there and it’s possible that someone knows something they’re not telling.  We have to explore it as an option and once we rule it out, we can move on.”

He glared down at her for a moment longer.  Rey stared back with her hands on her hips.  He had to see, then and now, that she would not be frightened by his intimidation.  No way.

“Fine,” he said.  “You talk to the house elves.  I’ll talk to Slytherin House.  Is that enough of a start for you now?”

“Yes,” she said, satisfied that they had agreed on something.  “It is.”

 _Merlin_ , she thought.  _This is going to be an uphill battle._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Comments and kudos are my favorite :) We shall be picking up the pace plot-wise for a bit


	13. A Little Bit Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben try to sort out exactly what is making students fall ill at Hogwarts.

Solo lounged against the wall opposite the classroom door, talking to Phasma, who she suspected was either skiving or planning on running late to her next class.  His dark eyes slid to her as if he could tell she wanted to talk to him.  But Phasma was there.  And they were not friends.

Instead, she ducked into the Runes classroom and pulled out a slip of parchment.  Hastily, she scribbled her message.  It wasn’t much.  Solo would probably scoff at her.  Not that she cared.  Solo spent half of his time scoffing at someone.

_House elves are sure it wasn’t the food.  Nothing in her things.  Found something odd.  Library, 9 PM._

As Solo entered the classroom seconds before Professor Kenobi started class, Rey made

a point of rising from her seat on the pretense of tossing something in the bin at the back of the room.  She knocked shoulders with him as he passed down the narrow aisle and her palm brushed over his.

            “Watch it, mudblood,” he hissed, but there was no venom in it.  A small smile threatened to twitch her mouth.

            “Such a gentleman, Solo,” she snapped back.  When she moved on down the aisle, she left a small slip of paper behind in his hand.  This felt…good.  A little _too_ good, like they were co-conspirators in something.  All the sneaking, notes passed with a brush of the hand, snide remarks worn like a mask.  She caught Solo’s eye again as she slid into her seat and noted the small uptick of his lips, the approval.  Did she want Solo’s approval?

            There wasn’t time to think of that now.  Professor Kenobi had instructed the class to open their textbook.  She stared down at the familiar runes and tried to push Solo from her mind.

            The clock struck 9 PM and Rey tapped an anxious rhythm against the ancient wooden floorboards.  The stillness of the library cloaked the smallest sound, choked it into nothing.  She’d heard nothing save her own breathing and the quiet rustle of her book for the last hour, after Madame Pince, the hawkish librarian, chased out a group of students a few rows over.  _Tap, tap, tap_.  Maybe he wouldn’t come.  _Tap, tap, tap._   Maybe she had presumed too much.  _Tap, tap, tap._   Being allies in one thing didn’t make them friends.  It didn’t make them familiars.  _Tap, tap tap._ Why would she want to be friends with Ben Solo anyway?  _Tap._

            She stopped abruptly to listen to the footsteps that reached her ears.  They faded away again.  It occurred to her that she had given him the vaguest directions to one of the largest places in the castle.  Rey tended to sit at the same table, but she couldn’t expect Solo to know that. 

            He appeared so suddenly that she wondered for a moment if he’d apparated.  His footsteps had been too soft for her to hear his approach.  Ben pulled out the chair across from her and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest.

            “You said you found something?  It’d better be interesting,” he muttered, although his eyes never left hers.  Rey guessed that it was too much to expect him to be both here and actually interested.  She’d take what she could get.  Silently, she pulled a piece of parchment from her stack.  On it, she’d copied the strange symbol that she’d found in the seventh-year dormitory.

            “This was on the wall beside Maisey’s bed.  I don’t know what to make of it.”

            Solo glanced down and slid the paper closer with a sharp jerk of his fingers.  “Looks like a rune,” he said shortly.

            Rey rolled her eyes.  “Yes, thank you.  But _what_ rune?  Do you recognize it?”

            He stared at it for a moment longer before shaking his head and pushing it back towards her.  “No, I don’t.  Is that all you have to go on?  A strange shape?  Some kid probably drew it half a century ago.”

            She felt her cheeks burning and fumed.  “At least I’m looking!”

            Ben quirked an eyebrow at her.  “I’m looking too.  I did exactly as you asked.  I checked around the Slytherin common room and no one knows anything about what’s going on.”

            Rey snorted.  “Yeah, they’d say that.”  She sniffed the musty air.  Great, she’d been sitting in here so long that the dust mites had stirred up her allergies.  And Ben Solo was probably about to give her a detailed list of why her evidence didn’t matter.

            He leveled a cold stare at her.  “I thought you weren’t going to blame Slytherins.”

            “I’m not.  I just mean…well, how do you know they’re telling the truth?” she asked.  A totally reasonable question.

            “I just do.”  His look sealed the matter.  “And you have nothing to report either, so we’re back to square one.”

            She wanted to retaliate and remind him that she _had_ found something, but in the end he was right.  They had next to nothing to go on.  She bit the inside of her cheek and suppressed the temptation to lob a snide remark right back in his blank face.  He looked almost…disappointed.  Like he’d expected her to have some huge breakthrough.

            “I still think we should look into the rune,” she argued to save face. 

            He picked up the sheet of parchment again and gave her the satisfaction of studying the rune in more detail.  But his face revealed nothing as he let the sheet drop to the table again.  “I’ll look around and see if I see anything similar, but I doubt it’ll lead to much.”

            _Merlin_ , she wanted to strangle him.  “Then, what do _you_ propose we do?”

            His lips twitched ever-so-slightly.  Founders help her, he was _enjoying_ tormenting her.  “Isn’t this your show, love?”  Something in her snapped to attention at the pet name.  He had never called her that before.  It sounded a little too good rolling off his tongue.  “I thought you were calling the shots.”

She slammed her hands down on the table.  “I thought you were committed to this too, but it appears I was wrong.”  Her chair made a horrible sound as she shoved back from the table.  “Forget it, Solo.”

She got up and made to march off between the stacks of books.  But his hand shot out and snagged her by the wrist.  Her other hand snatched her wand from her pocket, but she didn’t raise it.  Not yet.  For a long moment, he didn’t say anything, just stared at her from where he’d half-risen from his chair.

“I…”  A deep breath.  “I don’t know what to do next.  I’m sorry.”

She stared back at his dark eyes for a long moment, searching them for another snide comment or mockery.  Finding only sincerity, she nodded once and retook her seat.  “Have you checked his things yet?”  Solo’s eyebrows knitted, and he shook his head.  “Maybe we should start there then,” she suggested.

            He nodded slowly.  “I’ve been reading up on curses and illnesses,” he said and pulled an enormous, leather-bound book that had something suspiciously like blood staining its front cover from his bag.  The type of book that could only have come from the Restricted Section.  She decided not to open that particular can of worms.  “But there are so many that I don’t know where to start.  We need to narrow it down somewhat if we hope to find anything at all.”

            “I imagine St. Mungo’s has the medical side of things pretty well sorted,” she said.  He looked a little doubtful.  “We should focus on curses.  Maybe it’s something unique to Hogwarts?”

            Ben shrugged.  “It could be anything,” he said unhelpfully.  “Like I said, it’s hard to narrow it down right now.  We have nothing to rule out.”

            “Well,” she thought for a moment.  “We can rule out food-borne illnesses and curses.  If the food had carried it more students would be sick certainly.  And they were from two different houses.”

            Ben leaned forward a little and nodded.  “Whatever they came in contact with would have to be located where they both had access to it.  Or someone would have had to curse each of them in turn.  Did Strickland have any friends in Slytherin House?”

            Rey shook her head.  “She may have spoken to a few in class, but I know she didn’t go to the Slytherin Common Room or anything.  And we rarely have any Slytherins in the Hufflepuff Common Room.”

            “Steel was friends with a group of Ravenclaws but no Hufflepuffs,” Ben supplied.

            “That narrows down the places they could have come in contact with it,” Rey tried to stay positive.

            “Not much,” he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

            “Actually,” Rey brightened.  “It does.  It can’t be in one of the common areas, right?  Because more students would have fallen ill.  It has to be somewhere out of the way where only these two students could have encountered it.”

            “If there is an _it_ at all,” he retorted.

            Rey frowned.  He had a point.  Without a point of origin, it was difficult for them to determine _what_ or _who_ had cursed Maisey and Steel.  “You’re right.  We really don’t have much to go on.”

            “I didn’t think it was in the Hufflepuff motto to give up so easily,” Ben said, but no bite lingered behind his words.

            “Oh, I’m not giving up,” she reassured him.  “I’m still going to look even if I have to rule everything out one by one.”

            Ben gave her a long look that she couldn’t decipher.  “Alright,” he said finally.  “What do we do next?”

            Rey almost smiled.  _We_ , he’d said.  No matter how hopeless it seemed, it somehow felt better if Ben still stood by her side.  She filed that away to dissect later.  “Have you gotten in to Steel’s room to look through his things yet?”

            He bit the inside of his cheek.  “Not yet,” he finally admitted.  “I’ll do it this week.”

            She nodded, satisfied.  “I’ve got a few books checked out from the library on curses that look like illnesses.  I’ll do some reading, and we can go from there.”

            Solo stood from his chair and slung his bag over his shoulder.  He paused when he realized she hadn’t risen from her seat at the same time.  “Aren’t you leaving?”

            She shook her head.  “Not yet.  I have Defense to do still.”  He glanced back at the seat he’d just vacated and nodded, turning finally towards the empty aisle of the library. 

            Ben paused again.  “You know,” he said finally.  “You’re not so bad.  For a Hufflepuff.”

            Rey didn’t know if that was really a complement, but she chose to take it as one.  Ben nodded like that short sentence said everything and sauntered off through the dusty rows of books. 

“See you Thursday,” she called after him.

            His only acknowledgement was a small wave over his shoulder.


	14. Ben Solo doesn't shag in broom closets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I'm posting this chapter late! I just didn't get it edited in time to post it yesterday. But I hope you'll think it was worth it. Back to the usual posting schedule on Wednesday, I promise!

            Rey landed on the pitch and splashed icy mud up her pant legs.  She cursed and shot a quick drying charm at them.  Not that it helped much.  The deep cold outside had settled in her bones, and she couldn’t even feel the change in temperature on her legs.  Shar landed next to her, cursing about the state of their team and losing the Quidditch cup, even though they hadn’t played a single match yet this season.  His face had gone beat red from the cold or the anger simmering beneath his skin or a combination of both.  The rest of the team landed around them.

            “Weasley, what’s wrong with you today?” Malbus yelled over the wind at the red-headed seventh-year.  She flushed as scarlet as her hair, and Rey worried that she would burst into tears on the pitch.  That behavior was so far from normal for Jo that Rey couldn’t recall seeing her cry a single time before Maisey had gotten sick.  “You didn’t save a single goal.”

            That wasn’t true.  Rey frowned at him and nudged him with an elbow to get him back on track.  Melshi put an arm around Jo’s shoulders.  “We’re all freezing our asses off, Malbus,” Melshi reminded him.

            “I don’t care if you’re freezing your balls off.  Do you think Ravenclaw’s going to care if you’re freezing?  Our first game is only _weeks_ away and we have to beat Ravenclaw.  They’re the weakest team this year.  If we don’t beat them, where will we be against Slytherin and Gryffindor?”

            Their Quidditch captain’s rant continued on for several minutes, but Rey tuned him out.  Quidditch ranked near the top as one of her favorite things, but lately other problems had made it recede into the distance.  Even the Inter-House League had been pushed lower down on the list, though it had started out as her brain child and remained her pride and joy.

            Malbus finally ended his frustrated word vomit.  The team trudged back towards the castle and the promise of a hot dinner together, cold and frustrated.  None of them had Quidditch on their minds, not even Malbus, despite his anger.  Another week had gone by with no news about Maisey and Steel.  Rey had hoped Ben would find something in Steel’s room.  She had been disappointed when Ben had gone more than a week without mentioning anything about it at all.  They had done their rounds last Thursday and made some idle chatter, but he had said nothing about searching Steel’s things.  And Rey had made little headway in her research.

            The Great Hall still bustled with students heading in and out of dinner.  Rey scanned the room as she entered but didn’t see Solo among the Slytherins.  She did find her friends seated about halfway down the Gryffindor table.  She nudged a second-year aside and sat down next to them.  Finn frowned at her.

            “You look like hell,” he offered.

            “Thanks, Finn, that makes me feel great,” she snapped, out of patience for the night.

            “It must be below zero out there,” Rose said, trying to rub some warmth back into Rey’s shoulders.  “Malbus is nuts to make you practice in this weather.”

            “It’s going to get a lot colder,” Finn pointed out to her.

            “Cold weather doesn’t stop Quidditch,” Poe said at the same time.

            Rose rolled her eyes.  “It’s not that bad,” Rey assured her friend, holding her hands around a warm mug of cider.  “About five above.”

            “It’s cold enough in here.  This castle gets so drafty sometimes,” Rose complained.

            Rey just found herself grateful that the house elves had made soup for dinner.  She ladled a generous portion into her bowl and started shoveling the liquid into her mouth even when it burned her tongue.  The warmth seeping through her skin prickled a little as it thawed her limbs.  She groaned as she remembered that she still had a bit of Potions homework to do before she could kick a third-year off the best chairs and curl up in a blanket by the fire.

            Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see Paige standing behind her in a blue Ravenclaw cardigan.  “Rey,” she said before interrupting herself with a yawn.  “Merlin, sorry.  Rey, you and Ben are on the rotation to stay back during the next Hogsmeade weekend.”

            Rey’s brain worked sluggishly in the new heat.  The next Hogsmeade weekend?  When was that supposed to be anyway?  She worked hard to remember the date.  Next weekend.  Finn, Rose, and Poe caught up faster than Rey did.

            “But that’s Halloween!” Rose protested.  “Rey can’t miss Hogsmeade during Halloween!”

            Paige rolled her eyes.  “It’s four days after Halloween, Rose.  Aren’t you all too old for that sort of thing anyway?” she said to her sister but shot Rey an apologetic look anyway.

            “Rey already has to put up with Solo all the time.  Couldn’t she stay back during one of the normal Hogsmeade weekends?” Finn reasoned.

            “Do you want to take her place?” Paige asked, her hands on her hips.  Finn’s mouth snapped shut.  “That’s what I thought.  Anyway, I thought she’d like to have the Hogsmeade weekend closest to Christmas instead.”

            “But…” Poe started, but Rey interrupted him.

            “It’s fine, Paige.  Really.  I don’t mind.”

            Rose and Poe looked at her like she’d gone insane, but Paige let out a relieved sigh.  “So,” she continued.  “You know the drill.  Make sure the firsties don’t blow something up.  Oh, and I can’t find Solo, so can you tell him tomorrow when you have rounds?”

            She could see Rose gearing up to say something else about _that_ out of the corner of her eye, but Rey answered before she could.  “Of course.  Thanks, Paige.”

            Paige thanked her and headed back down the aisle in the direction of the Ravenclaw table.  Rose put her head in her hands and groaned on Rey’s behalf.  “Now you have to spend Halloween weekend with that prat,” her friend said.

            “It’s not _that_ bad,” Rey reasoned, taking a sip from her now-lukewarm cider.  “Just bring me everything you can find at Honeydukes.”  Her friends stared at her with wide, almost frightened eyes.  “What?”

            “Who are you and what have you done with Rey?” Poe asked.

            Rey rolled her eyes.  “What are you on about?”

            “Honey,” Finn said gently.  “You _hate_ Solo.”

            She shrugged and debated how to explain her lately more complicated feelings for one Ben Solo.  “I mean, I guess.  He hasn’t been quite as bad this year.”

            Three pairs of eyes bugged out at her.  “He definitely has been, Rey.”

            She shrugged again.  “He hasn’t called me ‘mudblood’ in a while, so that’s an improvement.”

            “Low bar for success,” Finn muttered.  “Halloween’s still going to be miserable around that wanker.”

            “Bring me lots of chocolate to compensate,” Rey said and hoped they would drop the matter entirely.  She didn’t know how to explain that Ben had become something of an ally recently.  They wouldn’t understand.  Worse, they’d be hurt that she hadn’t asked them before resorting to Ben Solo.  And she couldn’t explain why exactly that was.

            She finished her bowl of soup, grabbed a tart from the many plates of puddings, and picked up her broom.  “I need a shower.”

            Poe wrinkled his nose.  “We didn’t want to say anything, but…”

            She swatted at him before turning to leave the Great Hall.

            Rey stepped out of the shower half an hour later, drying her hair in a towel.  Rose, like many witches at Hogwarts, opted to magically dry her hair after a shower, but Rey had never gained the habit.  Her usual buns always left her hair wavy anyway. 

As she headed back towards her own dormitory, she passed the open circular door of the seventh-year dormitory.  Jo sat alone on Maisey’s old bed, holding something in her hands.  Rey debated with herself for a moment before rapping her knuckles on the open door and stepping inside.  Jo’s head shot up at the sound.  Her red hair was also plastered wetly around her shoulders.

“Oh, Rey,” she said.  “I didn’t see you there.”

“Is it alright if I come in?” Rey asked gently.  Jo nodded absently, and she took that as enough of an agreement to enter and take the spot opposite Jo Weasley.  As she did, she got a better look at the object in her hands.  It was a plain black journal, the kind of thing anyone at Hogwarts could have had.  But the way Jo looked at it told her that it had some greater meaning to her.  “What is that?”

“Oh…it’s Maisey’s journal.”

Rey perked up at that.  A journal?  Jo had told her nothing of the kind when she’d looked through Maisey’s things.  If she kept a journal, there could be some clue as to what she had come into contact with or some connection to Steel…Rey reeled herself back in.  It could be empty.  It could be nothing but useless drivel about the latest gossip.

“Maisey kept a journal?” Rey ventured instead, treading lightly around Jo’s tattered heart.

The seventh-year nodded.  “She was always writing in it, every spare minute, sometimes even in the middle of class.”

“Can I see?”  Jo reluctantly handed it over.  With shaking hands, Rey opened its front cover…and found nothing.  The journal was blank.  “It’s empty.”

Jo shook her head.  “She charmed it so only she could read it.  I don’t know what she kept in it, but she was always writing things down.”  Rey frowned and handed it back to the girl.  The journal would be no use to her if Maisey charmed it to show none of her writing.  All of her previous hope drained out of her.  Jo sniffed and wiped her nose.  “I just miss her so much.  It’s so stupid.  She was always gone on Wednesday nights and I never even noticed and now it’s so hard to not miss her.”  Jo sniffed again, and a few tears landed on the journal.  “I was a bad friend.  I wish I could apologize.”

Rey moved to sit next to her and wrapped her arm around Jo’s shoulder.  “You weren’t a bad friend.  You were a great friend to Maisey and you still are.  You’ll get to tell her.”

“How do you know?  It’s been months.  What if she never wakes up?”

Rey tried to summon her scraps of hope.  “The best people are working on it.  I’m sure they’ll figure it out soon.”

She didn’t want to tell Jo that she wasn’t sure and had never been sure.  Jo gave her a watery half-smile and patted the cover of the journal fondly.  “I wish she would come back soon.”

“Me too,” Rey admitted.  “What did Maisey do on Wednesday nights?  I thought she spent most of her time in the common room.”

“Oh, yeah, she did,” Jo said absently, toying with the frayed bookmark that poked out of the journal.  “But she joined this club and they always met on Wednesday nights in the library, I think?  I can’t remember what they called themselves.  Sleuths of Hogwarts or something.  They were all about discovering the castle’s hidden secrets.  I don’t know that they ever found anything, though.  I told Maisey that was just silly stuff and she should focus on other things, but she never would listen.  I don’t know why she liked them so much.  Odd bunch.”

Rey resolved to remember that bit of information and share it with Ben when she got the chance.  She stayed for a while longer, listening to Jo’s stories about Maisey and comforting her until Sarah came back and took over the job with much more success. 

A club dedicated to discovering the secrets of Hogwarts?  She hadn’t even known such a thing existed, but it didn’t surprise her.  And she knew half of the members would be Ravenclaws. 

When Rose came back to their shared room an hour later, Rey poked her head out from behind the hangings on her bed.  “Hey, Rose, have you ever heard of the Sleuths of Hogwarts or something like that?”

Her friend rolled her eyes.  “Oh, yeah, I’ve heard way too much about them,” she answered.  “Why do you want to know?”

Rey shrugged.  “I heard something about them and I didn’t even know they existed.”

Rose sat down on her bed with a huff.  “Yeah, I know about them.  Kay cornered me once and told me way too much about them.  They like to sniff out the secrets of Hogwarts or something.  If you ask me, they’re just asking for a disaster.  I bet there are things buried in Hogwarts that Professor Skywalker doesn’t even know about.”

Rey nodded in agreement.  “Where do they meet?”

Her eyes went wide.  “Merlin, you’re not going to join, are you?  I mean, I know you’re curious, but can you not, Rey?”  She quickly assured her friend that she was not planning on joining any new clubs, she was just curious, for prefect duties and all.  Rose didn’t look entirely convinced.  “In the library, I think.  That alcove with Harold the Insane?  Kay went to a meeting once and tried to drag me along.  Without success, I might add.  I don’t think he even goes anymore.  And when someone’s too crazy for Kay Esso, you know you’ve found some weirdos.”

Rey nodded and thanked the other Hufflepuff.  Rose shrugged it off but made her promise again that she wouldn’t join that club.  Whatever Kay had told her about it must have gone on for hours.

She added the note about where the club met to the bottom of her parchment.

            The next morning, she still couldn’t get the club out of her head.  Rey headed towards Transfiguration alone.  She’d just come up from Double Herbology and she only shared Transfiguration with Rose, who did not have Herbology.  She still had a few minutes to get to the classroom, but her friend would surely be waiting for her already.

            She had almost made it to the Transfiguration classroom when a hand seized her by the arm and hauled her into a broom cupboard.  She whipped her wand out, ready to hex whoever had decided to manhandle her into a broom closet of all places, and came face to face with Ben Solo.  He held his hands up in surrender and she decided to give him a grand total of 30 seconds to explain himself before she hexed off all that sleek hair.

            “What are you doing?  We have Transfiguration in,” she checked her watch, “ _six minutes_.  Merlin, Solo, what do you want?”

            Her irritation didn’t seem to phase him at all.  He rummaged in the bag he carried over one shoulder.  “I have to show you something,” he said without looking up. 

            “ _Now?_ ” she hissed, all too aware that she would certainly be late to Transfiguration.  “It was important enough to drag me into a broom closet for?”

            Solo gave a shout of success and pulled a piece of parchment from his bag.  She had a retort ready on her tongue, but what was drawn on the page silenced her. 

            It was a rune.  To be precise, it was the same rune that she had shown him the week before, except she was certain that her drawing sat in her trunk upstairs.  She snatched the parchment out of his hand and squinted at it in the dimness of the broom cupboard.  Definitely the same.

            “Where did you find this?” she asked.

            “Beside Steel’s bed,” he said, triumphant.  “Is _that_ important enough to miss Transfiguration for?”

            “No one said anything about missing Transfiguration.”  Although, with two minutes left to get to class, she was almost certain to.  “You found this in Steel’s room?  Like where I found the one I showed you?”  He nodded.  “Ha!  You said it wasn’t important!”

            He rolled his eyes and snatched the parchment back.  “Well, I had no evidence at the time to suggest otherwise.”

            “Oh, just admit it,” she pressed.  “You were _wrong_ , Solo.”

            “Don’t we have Transfiguration to get to?” he reminded her and tried to sidestep her, but she pushed him back with a hand on his chest.  Rey suddenly became very aware of how close he was to her.

            “We can’t leave now.  Don’t you realize what people will think if we come out of a broom cupboard together?”  She could still hear students shuffling past just outside the door.

            He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.  “So?”

            “You’re infuriating,” she snapped.  “You’re the one who dragged us into a broom cupboard of all places.”

            “Was it important or not?” he demanded.

            “It was,” she admitted.

            “We’re late to Transfiguration,” he informed her.

            She glared up at him.  “ _Yes_ , I’m aware of that.  Thank you so much.”

            “If we can’t leave yet,” he said, leaning forward a little.  “And we’re already late, what do you suggest we do?”

            Her glare intensified, and she revisited the idea of cursing his hair off.  At least that might wipe the smirk from his face.  “Not what you’re thinking.”

            He leaned back but didn’t lose the smirk.  “Pull your mind out of the gutter, Niima.  That’s not what I had in mind.”

            “Oh, really?”  She threw over her shoulder as she headed for the door.  She’d finally decided that she would rather face the consequences of tumbling out of a broom cupboard than stay in there with him for one more minute.  “Because I’m a filthy mudblood?”

            Rey opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the hall empty.  Ben followed close behind her.  When he spoke, she found him closer than she’d thought.  “Because I don’t shag in dusty broom closets.”

            A shiver snaked down her spine, and she shoved _that_ thought away.  It was only after she’d run into Transfiguration late, muttering apologies to Professor Imwe, that she realized she’d forgotten to tell him about the club.


	15. The Sleuths of Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey finally get some answers...and more questions

            Rey stepped out into the hallway a full fifteen minutes before they were scheduled to start rounds.  Solo, as usual, was already there, lounging against the wall.  Only his foot tapping against the ground signaled anything different.  She brought her drawing with her and immediately pulled it from her pocket to compare with his.  He had his as well.  Sure enough, they matched.

            “We finally have something to go on,” Rey said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

            Ben frowned.  “It’s still not much.”

            “Don’t be a spoilsport.  It’s more than we’ve had so far.”  Even his perpetual bad mood couldn’t get her down tonight.  Not with something in the realm of concrete to go off of.  “Oh, and there’s something else!  I talked to Jo the other day…”

            “Jo Weasley?” he cut in, wrinkling his nose. 

            “Don’t do that,” she said and elbowed him.  He stared down at her in shock.  “Jo is friends with Maisey.  Anyway, _she_ told me that Maisey had been going to this club on Wednesday nights in the library.  The Sleuths of Hogwarts.”

            “You think they might be connected?  The Sleuths and the runes we found?” he asked.

            “I think it’s something.  What if Maisey and Steel were looking for something hidden at Hogwarts?  They could have stumbled on something without anyone knowing,” she insisted.

            Ben considered it for a few minutes.  The bells tolled overhead, signaling curfew, and they automatically started walking down the hallway.  “I suppose it could be.  We’d have to do some more research.”

            “I found some books in the library on hidden chambers in Hogwarts.”

            Ben gave her a disappointed look.  “Wouldn’t it be easier to find if it were written in a book?”

            “At least _some_ information could be written down.  We should at least try to know what we’re walking into,” she protested.

            He shook his head.  “If Strickland was going to this club, we should try to talk to them.  Do you know when they meet?”

            “Wednesdays in an alcove of the library,” she said.  “We could go next Wednesday and see if they’ll tell us anything.”

            Ben frowned.  “It’s probably best if we don’t go together.  You can talk with them.”  Her heart sank in disappointment.  They had come so far.  “I’ll stand around the corner,” he continued, and she brightened at once.  “And you can tell me what you figure out.  The club’s probably mostly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws anyway.”

            “Why do you think so?” she asked.

            “Well, Gryffindors are shit at rules and boundaries and knowing when to not destroy the school.  And Ravenclaws are too curious for their own good.”  Rey frowned but couldn’t come up with a good argument for that.

            “Alright,” she agreed.  “We’ll go next Wednesday, and I’ll try talking to them.”  She flicked her wand and checked an empty classroom.  “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.  We’re on rounds for Hogsmeade next weekend.”

            He raised his eyebrows.  “The Halloween Hogsmeade?  Tico does have it out for me.”

            Rey rolled her eyes.  “And me?  Her sister’s best friend?  I doubt it.  She probably thought we’d give her the least shit about it.”

            “I must be losing my touch,” Ben answered dryly.  “I should give her shit just to make a point.”  He considered it for a moment longer.  “Just about everyone will be out of the castle,” he commented.  “Except the first and second-years who are scared to death of me.  We could investigate the runes a bit more.”

            Rey was so surprised that she stopped walking.  Ben went a few more steps before he realized she wasn’t with him and turned to her with a question in his eyes and on his tongue.

            She shook the daze from her head and started walking again.  “You’ve just never suggested looking before.”

            He shrugged.  “There wasn’t much to go on before.  I’m as invested as you are now.”

            Her feet lifted as if bolstered by the air itself.  “Alright.  We’ll spend the day looking for the runes.  But we’ll have to do some more research on them first to know where to start.”

            Beside her, Ben nodded, his shoulder brushing hers as he raised his wand and flicked open a door.  “But your books will be useless.  We should check the Restricted Section.”

            Rey checked another empty classroom and rolled her eyes.  It wasn’t the first time he’d suggested it.  “And how do you suggest we get in there?”

            Ben winked at her, actually _winked._   “I have connections.”  He grinned.  “You have to think outside the box, Niima.”

            She supposed that was true, but she didn’t want to know how he planned to get into the Restricted Section without prior authorization from a teacher.  Or maybe he had some other research topic that he could convince Tarkin to give him approval for. 

            “I don’t want to know,” she answered. 

            They walked down the hall in silence together.  Hogwarts at night had always been particularly wonderful to Rey, especially when all other students had gone to their common rooms for the night.  The portraits ran back and forth between paintings and the suits of armor sometimes creaked mysteriously.  It reminded her that despite all the magic and classes and day-to-day stress of school, Hogwarts was still a castle and a beautiful one at that.

            “Have you heard anything about Steel?” Ben finally asked quietly after several long moments of a silence that Rey could only describe as companionable.

            She turned to look at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze.  He stuck his hands in his pockets, almost as if he were unsure…could Ben Solo be unsure?  Around her?  “Professor Tarkin hasn’t given you any updates?”

            His cheeks colored a little and he shook his head.  Rey wanted to punch Tarkin right in his hooked nose.  Slytherin House had plenty of problems, sure, it seemed more and more like Tarkin exacerbated more than half of them.  What kind of Head of House wouldn’t give his house updates about an injured student?  Professor Kenobi had updated them every week on both Maisey and Steel.  And it was clear from the hesitation on Ben’s face and the fact that he’d asked at all that he _wanted_ to know, which was honestly more than she would have attributed to him.

            “As far as I know, he’s still at St. Mungo’s with Maisey.  They’ve been running tests and trying some new things, but nothing has made a difference yet.  I’m sorry I don’t know more.  Professor Kenobi can only tell us basics.”  He nodded in acknowledgement of the information but said nothing further.  Rey ventured on anyway.  “How is Slytherin House holding up?”

            Ben shrugged, but his shoulders slumped.  He passed by several doors without checking to see if the rooms were empty.  “Probably the same as Hufflepuff.  But with less crying.”  The dig against her house held no sincerity.  Rey didn’t know how to continue the conversation after that.  “Thank you,” he said after several long minutes.  “For the information about Steel.”

            A second thank-you from Ben Solo.  The world really could turn upside down.  “You’re welcome.”

 

            Rey tapped her foot through dinner on Wednesday night, watching the clock and counting down the minutes until she could meet Ben and head to the library for the Sleuths meeting.  Finally, she thought, finally they had a chance to get closer to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Maisey and Steel.

            The whole thing struck her as odd.  Only two students had gotten sick in the whole school.  Surely it had to be related?  They had to have encountered the same object or both been targeted for a curse.  That was what she kept telling herself, at least.  Otherwise, they would never find the source.

            “Rey?  Merlin, Rey, are you even listening?” Poe’s voice snapped her out of her own thoughts and counting down the minutes.  She’d barely touched her plate of food.  As she’d entered the Great Hall, Ben had left it alone and given her the smallest of nods as they passed.

            “I’m sorry, Poe.”  She winced at her inattention to her friend.  “What did you say?”

            Poe rolled his eyes but repeated his previous statement, as she knew he would.  “I said we have to figure out the team.”

            The team?  She finally realized he meant their joint Quidditch team.  “We won last weekend,” she reminded him, even though she knew the direction this conversation would take already.

            “Barely,” Poe huffed.  “Merlin’s beard, if Sarkeesian lets one more goal through, I think I’ll throttle him.  We should have trounced them, but they scored too many goals on us.”

            “Fair point,” she conceded.

            “We need a new keeper,” Finn pointed out.  Rey raised her eyebrows at him.  She would have bet money on Poe being the first to suggest that, not Finn.

            “We don’t have any other options right now, Finn,” Rey reminded him patiently.  She agreed that Sarkeesian certainly wasn’t the best option, but all the other decent keepers in the school were taken.  With one glaring exception.  But Ben Solo would under no circumstances join their Inter-House League nevertheless Rey, Finn, and Poe’s team.

            “I’ll play Keeper,” Rose piped up to offer again.  Finn and Poe turned to look at her smiling face as if she’d lost her mind and Rey choked back a laugh.

            “Rose,” Finn told her gently.  “You can’t fly.”

            Poe looked ready to shoot himself in the foot.  “Do you even want to play Keeper?”

            “No,” she snickered.  “But it would be worth falling off my broom for the look on Poe’s face.”

            Poe grunted something about needing to finish up some Potions homework before making a swift exit and leaving most of his food untouched.  Their laughter followed him out of the Great Hall.  Rey thought she should perhaps feel worse about ignoring his obvious preoccupation with their team, but his worrying would get them nowhere.

            Glancing up at the hands of the clock again, she realized that their conversation had passed the time faster than willing the clock to tick forward.  She borrowed Poe’s excuse and threw her bag over her shoulder to go meet Ben Solo and finally find out what the Sleuths were up to.

            “You’re leaving too?”  Finn’s face fell.

            She shrugged.  “Bit of homework to do before tomorrow.  Sorry.  I’ll see you at breakfast, Finn.  Later, Rose.”

            She felt a little guilty leaving the two of them together.  Rose had made it clear to her over the past few months that she had developed a crush on Finn.  And it had become increasingly obvious to Rey that something very different was happening with Finn.  She had tried to act as a buffer between her friends to keep the situation from exploding.  Now, she figured she could sacrifice one night for a more important errand.

            Rey found Ben waiting for her in an alcove just inside the library, as they had planned before they’d parted last Thursday after rounds.  He had settled himself in there to look inconspicuous—or because he actually had homework—and had a book spread before him.  He looked up as her footsteps drew closer.

            “I thought you’d forgotten,” he grumbled.

            She raised an eyebrow at his tone.  “Hullo to you too.”  She glanced at her watch.  “I’m on time.  Exactly.”

            He seemed to always run early anyway.  “I saw the club come in a few minutes ago.  I think they’ve started their meeting already.”

            She nodded.  “I think that’s probably better.”

            The stacks rose around them like tombs.  They left plenty of places to be unheard or unseen.  She could catch sight of nothing now but the dust motes floating through the air.  “If it’s empty, you could stand on the other side of the shelves and still listen,” she suggested.

            “As long as they can’t see me,” he said.

            “You could always just pretend you’re looking for a book.  We’re in a library after all.”

            Ben agreed, and they made their way down the aisle towards the secluded alcove.  Voices floated above the shelves and back to them before they reached it.  Just before they came into sight of the small club gathered there, Ben ducked between the shelves and out of view.  Rey continued alone, but she could feel him behind her like a ghost. 

            As she came into view, the voices fell silent and five pairs of eyes turned towards her.  She didn’t know why, but she’d expected more than just five members to their club.  Although, if they were right, they had once had seven.  They watched her approach their table curiously.  Several Ravenclaws sat among them, a few Gryffindors, and one Hufflepuff she vaguely recognized.

            “Hi, Rey,” the Hufflepuff, a fourth-year named Melody said.  She turned to the others.  “Rey’s a Hufflepuff prefect.”

            “Hi, Melody,” Rey greeted her.  “This is the Sleuths of Hogwarts, right?”

            One of the Ravenclaws perked up.  “Are you here to join?”

            “Sorry,” Rey said, wincing.  “I’d love to, but I don’t have time right now.  Sixth year is so busy.  But I have a couple of questions, if you don’t mind?”

            They glanced around at one another before the Ravenclaw, who seemed to be in charge, nodded and pushed a chair towards her.  “Sure.  About what?  We’re allowed to be a club.  We got approval from Professor Organa and everything.”

            Rey waved off the concern.  “Oh, I know.  It’s not about that at all.  It’s about Maisey, actually.  Maisey Strickland.”

            Their eyes dropped to inspect the woodgrain of the table.  Melody nodded slowly.  “You were one of the first who found her, right?”

            Rey nodded.  “Healer Zarrin asked me to find out what kind of things she was up to, just to get a clearer picture of what she did every day.  She was part of your club, wasn’t she?”

            The Ravenclaw leader nodded.  “She started coming towards the end of last year and got really into it.  She kind of did her own thing.  Her and Gerald, that is.”

            Gerald?  She wracked her brain for a Gerald.  Not in Hufflepuff certainly, but she had heard the name before.  Gerald…Steel?  Yes, that was right.  He went by Gerry more often, but it was Gerald Steel.  “Steel was in your club too?”

            “Oh, yeah,” one of the Gryffindors piped up.  “He only started coming this year.  He and Maisey hit it off.  Some mutual interests, I think.”

            She could feel Ben’s attention on the back of her neck.  “Do you know what they were interested in?”

            The Ravenclaw leader wrinkled her forehead.  “I’m not sure.  I didn’t really understand it, to be honest.  We’ve been trying to figure out some of the spells that keep Hogwarts invisible to Muggles.  They weren’t really interested in that.”

            “They tried to get us on their project, but none of us take Runes,” the other Gryffindor explained.  “So, we weren’t much use.  I didn’t understand what they were going on about.  Some chamber in Hogwarts.  There are plenty of those.  Theirs didn’t seem too special.”

            “They were working on Runes?” Rey asked, thinking back to the twin set of runes she and Ben had found branded beside their besides.

            “They both took Ancient Runes,” Melody explained.  “None of the rest of us do.  I want to start next year, though.”

            “And these runes led to a chamber?” Rey continued.

            The Ravenclaw leader nodded again.  “That’s what I gathered anyway.  They seemed like they were on a completely different wavelength.  Maisey was always scribbling in that notebook of hers.  Had their heads together all the time.  The last meeting Maisey was at they said they were really onto something and tried to get us to join.”  She looked uneasily around the table.  “We wouldn’t.  Maisey left pretty upset.  I guess we should have done something.”

            “It’s probably not related,” Rey said quickly.  “There’s no way you could have known she would be sick in just a few days.”

            The Ravenclaw shook her head.  “I told her to leave that stuff alone.  We try to figure out the secrets of Hogwarts, but we don’t mess with them.  There are so many things hidden in the depths of Hogwarts and much of it is better left untouched.”  She frowned.  “I warned her.  But she didn’t listen.”

            And then she fell ill.


	16. Cursed Vaults

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't responded to comments recently! I'm a teacher and we just got out of school on Thursday, which means things have been crazy. I promise I will get to them soon. In the mean time, enjoy this chapter!

Rey left the Sleuths of Hogwarts with their heads bent together around the table.  She felt their eyes on her back as she hurried down the aisle.  Ben appeared suddenly by her side.  With a hand wrapped around his wrist, she towed him between two towering shelves of books, out of sight of anyone else in the library and too enclosed to be overheard.

            “Did you hear that?” she asked at once.  He leaned a little closer to her, though they stood bare inches apart already, and nodded.

            “They were _both_ members.”  He stuffed a hand in his pocket and pulled out the crinkled drawing of the rune they’d both found on the wall.  “You were right.  This did mean something.  What did they say?  Some sort of hidden chamber beneath Hogwarts?”

            Rey chewed on her lip and bounced on the balls of her feet.  “That could be anything, though.  There have to be hundreds of hidden chambers beneath Hogwarts.  How can we find it?  How could we possibly get in?”  She let out a groan of frustration.  “If only Maisey didn’t wipe her notebook blank.  I bet everything we need is in there.”

            Ben ran a hand through his hair, mussing it worse than it already was.  “There must be a way,” he insisted.  “They figured it out.  Maybe separately, judging by the time that passed between Maisey falling ill and Steel.”

            She squinted up at him, her forehead furrowed.  “Why didn’t he say something?  He must have known.”

            He shook his head a little.  “I don’t know.  He must have suspected.  Maybe he wanted to confirm before he said something.  Or maybe someone cursed them after they found the chamber.”  His eyes locked onto hers.  “There’s only one way to find out.”

            “Find the chamber ourselves.”  She clenched her hands into fists.  “Is that wise?  Look at what happened to them.  The same thing could happen to us.”

            “We’ll be prepared.  We know for sure now what can happen.  We’ll leave a note, just in case, but we have to try.”

            Rey agreed.  She couldn’t think of any other way.  If they went to the professors now, they wouldn’t believe them.  There were so many crazy stories floating around about what had happened to Maisey and Steel.  She herself had heard at least twenty increasingly fantastic versions of the tale.  But if they had proof…if they actually _found_ the chamber…

            “You’re right.  We have to try.  This Saturday, while everyone is gone.”  She thought for a moment longer.  “We should start with _Hogwarts: A History_.  There’s loads of information about the mysteries of Hogwarts in there.  It’ll give us a starting point.  With all these books in here, one of them must be able to tell us how to get in.”

            She strode down the aisle between the shelves, Ben hot on her heels, and pulled the school’s worn copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ from the shelves.  They slid into the most secluded table they could find and bent over the book together, their heads just inches apart.

            Rey scanned through the Table of Contents until she found a chapter that sounded promising: Secrets of Hogwarts.  The pages crinkled beneath her fingers as she flipped to it and a small puff of dust appeared in the air around them.  Their eyes raked over the sub-headings, which varied from old headmasters and their antics to things left by the Founders themselves.  Ben put a hand over hers to stop her from turning the page.

            “Wait!  What about that one?  Chambers of the Founders?” he said.

            She looked up at him and found him closer than expected.  His brown eyes, she noticed from this distance, had flecks of gold in them.  He cleared his throat and pulled his hand away.  Shaking her head a bit, she turned her attention back to the book and scanned through the section of the chapter he’d indicated.

            “It’s all speculation,” she said.  “Possible, but there’s very little to go on.  The Chamber of Secrets was real enough, but that had nothing to do with runes.”

            “Maybe Ravenclaw’s chamber would?” he suggested.

            Rey shrugged.  “But who knows if it even exists?  Let’s keep looking.  We can keep it in mind and come back to it.”

            They flipped through several more sections, a few of them with promising titles that contained nothing concrete.  Ben stopped her before she could turn the page again and pointed to one labeled _Cursed Vaults_.

            “Didn’t Professor Kenobi talk about those once?” she tried to recall.

            He shrugged, and she felt the movement in her shoulder.  “I don’t know.  I only listen when he talks about runes.”

            Rey gave him a brief, disapproving look and he had the sense to look a little ashamed.  “…each one is guarded by a different type of spell or magic,” she read from the book.  “This could be it.  The one they found could be guarded by runes.”

            “It’s possible,” he allowed.  “It’s the most likely option we found so far.  But what’s in them?”  He bent a little closer to the book, bringing his head a little closer to hers as he did.  Her breath caught in her throat and she forced herself to breathe normally.  She would have to examine _that_ later, when she had a clearer head and Ben Solo wasn’t right next to her.  He made a disappointed sound in the back of his throat that snapped her back to reality.  _He_ certainly wasn’t affected by their proximity.  “It doesn’t say.”

            “It says a little,” she rejoined the conversation.  “Hogwarts has been used to store magical artifacts and curses for centuries.  It’s the safest place for them aside from Gringotts and I would only trust them with valuables, not cursed objects.  Hogwarts is the best place for enchantments that are meant to protect _us._ ”  She pointed to a line.  “But some have suspected that they contain treasure.”

            Ben waved his hand dismissively.  “That’s a load of shit.  An old wives’ tale.  Like you said, if someone wanted to store treasure, they’d do it in one of Gringotts’ deepest vaults, not Hogwarts.”

            “Then, it’s probably something dangerous,” she ventured.  “If it really was one of the Cursed Vaults they found.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “Look, I know you’re not going to like it, but maybe we should talk to Professor Organa or Skywalker.  It could be something really dangerous and they could help.”

            “No,” he said at once, with finality.  It wasn’t anything different than she expected, but her heart sank nonetheless.  Even though she thought they should involve the professors, she swore she wouldn’t do it without his consent.  She had asked him to help her, after all, and she refused to go behind his back.  But he continued with something she didn’t expect, “it won’t help, trust me.  It says they’re legendary, see?  Mu…Professor Organa doesn’t think they exist.”

            “Won’t she listen anyway?”

            He shook his head.  “She’s too focused on the here and now.”  He took a deep breath, as if steadying himself to continue.  “The first year she taught at Hogwarts, the year before we started, Professor Skywalker asked her to look into some of the secrets of the school, like the Chamber of Secrets and the Cursed Vaults, as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.  She did.  It took her the whole year of extensive research.  I don’t think she ever went looking for the Cursed Vaults herself, but she read a lot about them.  She found the Chamber of Secrets, but she concluded that the Cursed Vaults don’t exist.”

            “You remember a lot about them,” she said gently.

            He scratched at something invisible on the table.  “I didn’t like coming to Hogwarts.  Dad and I lived in Hogsmeade and I didn’t have anything to do.  Some of the professors let me sit in the back of classes and listen, but I didn’t have a wand yet.  I…I wanted her to notice how miserable I was.”  He didn’t look up as he spoke.  “She…didn’t.  Too involved in work.  I took an interest hoping it was something I could work on too.  But that only made it worse because I disagreed with her.”

            Rey took a risk and laid a hand on his shoulder.  “I’m sorry, Ben,” she said quietly.  “Families shouldn’t do that to each other.”

            He finally met her eyes then, his deep brown and unfathomable.  “People…people usually tell me how great a witch my mum is, how lucky we are to have her, how great she’s been for the wizarding world.  As if that excuses my childhood.”

            She realized suddenly and violently that she would hex anyone who dared say that to him.  Merlin, how had she not seen through his façade earlier?  Yes, he could be terrible and yes, he had said some horrible things to her, but the only thing she saw before her now was a broken boy, just as starved for affection as she had been when she arrived.

            “Nothing excuses neglecting your own child,” she said.  “Nothing.”

            Ben stared at her for a long moment before he shook his head and looked away.  “Leia’s your idol.  I know that.”

            “Professor Organa has been good to me,” Rey answered at once.  “But that doesn’t mean she’s been good to everyone.  That doesn’t mean she’s been good to you.”  He didn’t turn back to look at her, but his shoulders slumped a little.  Maybe he wasn’t ready to hear that.  “Okay, we won’t involve the professors.  I understand.”

            He looked up in surprise.  “I thought you would tell them anyway.”

            She gave him a withering look.  “I asked you to help me, didn’t I?  We’re in this together.  If you don’t want to tell them, I won’t either.”

            Something flitted across his face that she couldn’t place.  “Alright,” he said slowly.  “What do we do, then?  We can’t go into this unprepared.”

            “And if we’re still set on Saturday, we don’t have much time to prepare.”  She thought for a moment.  “There must be more on the Cursed Vaults.  You said something about the Restricted Section.  Do you think you could get some useful books from there?”

            He nodded at once and a grin spread across his face.  “I’ve corrupted you, Niima.  Look at you, suggesting the Restricted Section without prior authorization.”

            Rey snorted and sat back, putting on an innocent expression.  “ _I’m_ not going to go into the Restricted Section.  Who knows where those books came from?  Not me.”

            The look he gave her bordered on proud.  “Maybe hanging around those sodding Gryffindors has been good for you after all.”

            “Bite your tongue, Solo, I never thought you’d say something like that.”  She took a deep breath and tried to draw herself back to the matter at hand.  This banter with Solo felt too much like something else.  “Can you have the books by tomorrow?”  He nodded.  “Alright, bring them with you to rounds.  We’ll do as much research as we can before Saturday.”

            She stood up to go, throwing her school bag over her shoulder.  His voice made her pause.  “Rey,” he paused too.  “Thank you.”

            With a nod and a small smile, she left him sitting in the library.


	17. A Little Research

            Rey hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder and nearly ran the last few steps to Potions.  She slid through the door and took her place before her cauldron exactly two seconds before class started.  She had no choice but to take the table at the back of the room and the seat beside her was empty.  Great, that meant she’d be working on her potion on her own, when the instructions were much easier for two people. 

Professor Tarkin gave her a disapproving glance but said nothing.  Technically, she hadn’t been late.  Despite being a Hufflepuff, Rey was not Tarkin’s least favorite student.  In this class, that admirable achievement currently rested with Poe, who had paired with Finn and was squinting at the instructions in his textbook.

“Mr. Dameron, do try not to blow anything up today.  It’s fortunate that Mr. Zabini has little hair to lose, otherwise I may be worried,” Tarkin drawled as he passed before their cauldron. 

Poe turned red in the face and Finn put a comforting hand on his arm.  Poe wasn’t even that bad at Potions, it was just that he never bothered to study.  The loathing he shared with Tarkin certainly didn’t make him want to study more.

Rey pulled out her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ and turned to page 10 as instructed by Tarkin’s notes on the board.  They had the entirety of the double block of Potions to make a Draught of Living Death.  Rey frowned down at the instructions.  Who had decided to skip Potions that morning and leave her partner-less?  No doubt one of the Slytherins.  Although, having Hux or someone has a partner would be far worse than brewing the potion on her own.  Realistically, she should have gotten some leeway for doing it by herself, but Tarkin would have none of that.

Rey glanced around the room and tried to figure out who was missing.  It struck her halfway through that Solo’s long, lanky form was nowhere to be found.  A brief jolt of panic shot from her head to her feet.  What if something had gone wrong?  He’d been trying to get into the Restricted Section…what if he’d picked up the wrong book?  What if he’d tried to get into the Vault on his own and now had taken ill?  What if…

Just then, the door opened and Solo himself walked in a full eight minutes late to Potions.  He apologized to Tarkin, who didn’t even bat an eye at the tardiness that would have taken ten points from any other house and took the only available seat in the room…next to her.  Months ago, Rey mused, this situation would have ruined her day.  Now, she breathed a double sigh of relief.  One, she would have a partner and one of the most capable at that.  Two, nothing had happened to Ben Solo.  It surprised her that the second fact would outweigh the first.

“Morning, Mudblood,” he said loud enough for Poe and Finn to turn around in outrage.  “Ruin our potion yet?”

Rey hid her smile as she ducked down and cast a flame beneath the cauldron for just the right amount of heat.  “No, I’m sure you’ll do an admirable job of that, Solo.”

He ducked down next to her on the pretense of checking that she’d cast the right flame.  “I got the books.”

Her grin widened.  The back-and-forth that had infuriated her months ago was fun now that it had no heat behind it, like one large game of charades.  See how long they could go without someone figuring out they worked well together now.  If she had been able to choose a partner for this particularly difficult potion without any social repercussions, her choice would have been Solo.  No offense to her friends.

“Draught of Living Death,” she said at normal volume.  “I’m sure you’ll be good at it.  Merlin knows you always look like you’ve taken it.”

He ducked his head behind his book to hide his smile.  Merlin’s beard, this was almost like _flirting_ with him.  They started on their potion, working seamlessly together.  Ben added the infusion of wormwood and the root of asphodel while she worked on crushing the beans according to Tarkin’s directions on the blackboard.  They had a couple of moments while the potion simmered.

“Sorry I was late,” he muttered under his breath without taking his eyes off the potion.  “I found some interesting information in one of the books.”

Rey took that to mean that he had stayed up late reading about the Cursed Vaults and overslept for Potions.  For some reason, the thought filled her with warmth.  He ducked down beneath their table on the pretense of getting something from his bag and slid a piece of parchment covered in his neat handwriting into her palm.

“I’ll bring the rest of the books tonight,” he muttered as he stood again.  She had added the next ingredient and the potion had turned a pleasant lilac color as the book said it should at the halfway point.

“Potion looks good so far,” Rey said, straining on her tiptoes to peer into the cauldron properly.  Ben nodded.

By the end of the class period, they had a finished clear potion sitting in front of them.  Tarkin walked around inspecting the finished products and criticizing them.  Rose looked close to tears at his estimation of her potion.  Finn and Poe’s had turned out passable.

“No thanks to Mr. Dameron, I assume,” Tarkin said as he moved on to the next cauldron.  He came to theirs last and peered at the clear liquid.  He dropped a leaf in and it disintegrated upon contact.  His gray eyebrows shot up onto his wrinkled forehead.  “A perfect potion.”  He looked between them as if one of them had pulled the potion out of their bag.  Rey thought his suspicion unwarranted.  She and Ben had been competing for best in his class.  “Excellent job, Mr. Solo, Ms. Niima.  Full marks.”

He dismissed them after assigning far too long a write-up over the potion.  Ben snatched up his bulging bag and went to catch up with his friends with a muttered _see you later_ under his breath.  Rey forced herself to not watch him go and joined her own group of friends.  Finn comforted a sniffling Rose.

“My potion wasn’t _that_ bad,” she protested.  Rey agreed that it didn’t merit a chewing out.  Sure, Rose hadn’t quite gotten there, but she was a good student.  They couldn’t be expected to produce perfect potions all the time.  “At least I didn’t have to be paired with Solo _again_.  Merlin, Rey, that sucks.  I’m sorry.”

She shrugged and tried to look more disappointed than she felt.  The paper he’d slid into her bag burned to be read.  “He’s good at potions.  At least we got full marks.  It could have been worse.  I could have been paired with Phasma or, Merlin, _Hux_.”

They headed towards the Great Hall for lunch.  Rey paused at the stairs.  “I forgot something in the common room for class this afternoon.  I’ll be right there.”

She dashed down the stairs before they could protest.  Going back to the common room would mean that she would miss half her lunch break, but she had to read that paper.  It was worth it.

 

When Ben Solo met her for rounds that night, he had his bag on his shoulder, bulging with books.  She raised her eyebrows at it, surprised that he’d been so successful in the Restricted Section, but he just shrugged.  They started their rounds early and ignored the few Hufflepuffs who sprinted passed them to slide into the common room. 

“I’m not late!” one of them called to Rey as she passed.  Ben did a poor job of concealing his snort of derision.

The clock struck ten o’clock and they picked up their pace.  Rey flicked her wand to open a classroom and immediately encountered the unpleasant and unwelcome sight of two fifth-years fused together by their lips.  Even more unfortunate, the girl had no shirt on.  Ben turned around and gave her a look that clearly suggested that she deal with this.

“Avery!  Michael!”  The couple, who had not noticed the door opening, certainly noticed Rey’s voice that rang across the classroom.  Michael fell off the desk he’d used as a seat.  “Put your shirt on, for Merlin’s sake.  Twenty points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.  Honestly, you know better.  At least pay attention to the time.”  Avery hastily threw her shirt over her head and the couple scurried for the door.  “Straight back to your common rooms!” she called after them.

Ben finally turned around again when they disappeared around the corner, spurred faster by the sight of his scowl.  “That was eventful.”

“We can use this room,” she said, grabbing him by a handful of his sweater and towing him inside.

“Honestly, Niima, I didn’t know you felt that way about me,” he said as he stumbled after her.  Rey rolled her eyes and felt a little pink creep into her cheeks.

“Don’t get full of yourself, Solo.  I meant the books you’re hauling around.”

He relieved his shoulder of its load and sent it crashing loudly on a table.  “Shouldn’t we be finishing our rounds, Miss Prefect?”

“We will,” Rey said, nudging him to get a move on and show her what he brought.  “But we’re ahead of schedule.  And if we finish them late, we can always blame the delay on that couple.”

Ben wrenched several books from his bag.  “I like the way you think, Niima.  Did you read the parchment?”

“You mean the one you shoved in my hand while I was trying to brew our potion?  Yeah, I read it before lunch.”

He nodded, granting her a small smile at the dig.  “I haven’t gotten through all of these yet,” he said as he unpacked far more books than she would have thought his bag capable of holding.  It must have been magically reinforced.  “I think it’s most likely that the Vault holds some sort of contained curse.”

“Why?” she asked.

He shrugged.  “Most of the sources seem to suggest that the vaults themselves aren’t cursed, they contain curses.  I suppose it doesn’t matter either way.”

“It does,” Rey mused.  “Containment will be different.”  He nodded absently.  “How are you with runic containment spells?”

“Not as good as I could be, but I’ve been practicing,” he answered.  “Ah, here it is.  I wanted to show you this.” 

He tugged the last book out and flipped it open to a page he’d marked.  “At the latest, constructed during the 1430s?  Okay, I guess that would explain why no one remembers where it is, but why are you showing me this in particular?”

Ben rolled his eyes.  “Haven’t you been paying attention in History of Magic?”

She shrugged weakly.  “A little?  I’m not taking it this term.”

“Honestly, Niima, how you’re top of the class…the 1430s saw the last outbreak of the Seizing Plague that killed thousands of witches and wizards across the world.  But some people believe it was a curse rather than a disease, that’s why it stopped so suddenly and didn’t affect Muggles.”

Rey frowned down at the book.  “There are other diseases that don’t affect Muggles.”

“That’s true,” he allowed.  “But didn’t Steel and Maisey have a type of seizure before they went unconscious?  That’s similar to the symptoms from the outbreak.”

She puzzled through his reasoning with a frown.  “It’s possible,” she allowed.  “But unlikely.  We should be prepared to contain it, just in case, but ready for other things as well.  I don’t think we can jump to conclusions about what’s in the vault.”

“Fair point,” he answered, and she looked up at him in surprise.  She wasn’t used to Solo conceding anything, even the smallest point.  Or maybe it was just her blood status that he refused to compromise on.  “It seems unlikely that the curse or whatever has been unleashed from its containment spells.  Surely more than just two students would have fallen ill otherwise.”

Rey agreed.  “That’s probably true, but when someone passes through protection runes, they become weaker every time.  They could weaken so much that they are not able to contain the curse anymore.”

“We should be ready to strengthen the ward runes, then,” he added.  “Or possibly add new ones if needed.”

“At least enough that _if_ that’s the case, we’ll have enough time to alert Professor Kenobi before all hell breaks loose and he can strengthen the wards himself,” Rey said.  She didn’t miss the tightening in Ben’s face at the mention of Professor Kenobi, but he didn’t argue.  With spells this old and important, they probably wouldn’t have the skill on their own.  Even Ben couldn’t deny that.  “How are your runic spells?”

He shrugged.  “I’ve been brushing up on them again recently.”

She looked up and found him already looking back at her.  “We should be able to reinforce the runes enough with the two of us.”

A small smile flickered across his face briefly.  “D’you think we’ll get extra credit from Kenobi if we do?”

Rey just rolled her eyes at him.  “Don’t get your hopes up.  More likely we’ll get detention for breaking about fifty school rules.”  She glanced at her watch.  “We should keep moving.  Do you want me to take any of these books to read through before Saturday?”

He indicated a few of them.  “I’ll give them to you when we finish rounds.”

Rey exited the deserted classroom with butterflies in her stomach. 

On Saturday, they would enter the Cursed Vaults.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we, dear readers, will enter the Cursed Vaults on Saturday too. Hope you enjoy! Comments, kudos, and bookmarks are a few of my favorite things.


	18. The Slytherin Common Room

            Rey trotted beside her friends down to the enormous doors of Hogwarts.  The Entrance Hall rose around her like a cathedral as they reached the bottom step of the main staircase and headed for the door.  A group of first-years stood off to the side, watching the upper-class students file out into the sunshine.  Honestly, she was a little jealous.  Saturday had dawned brilliant and perfect, with just enough chill in the air for sweaters and scarves, but not enough to make it unpleasant.  A few stray leaves blew past the door on a gust of wind.

            “I wish you could come with us, Rey,” Rose protested.  “Are you sure someone else can’t take your place today?”

            “I already tried.”  She had done nothing of the sort.  “No one wanted to take it,” she lied.  “Of course, they didn’t.  It’s the weekend before Halloween.”  She let out a wistful and hopefully convincing sigh.  “Just bring me all the candy in Honeydukes’ to make up for it.”

            “Bucket-loads,” Poe said.

            “Bags full,” Finn added.

            “More than you could ever eat,” Rose supplied, rolling her eyes at the boys.  “It’s not the same without you though, Rey.”

            “Yeah,” Poe chimed in.  “Why did you have to go and become a prefect again?”

            “Finn’s going to have to stay behind one weekend too,” she reminded them, and Poe turned his complaining onto Finn instead.  “Have fun.  Drink some butterbeer for me.”

            “We’ll sneak some firewhiskey back for you,” Rose whispered to her before they reached Professor Organa, who ticked off everyone’s names at the door.  Rey slipped her a galleon for just that purpose.

            With final farewells, Rey waved her friends out the door and into the beautiful October day.  Part of her wished that she could be there too, laughing and heading on her way to Hogsmeade for the day.  But her mind turned back to the task at hand.  Today was the day.  The day she and Ben would finally find out what Maisey and Steel had been searching for.  And whether or not they had found it.

            They had agreed to meet at eleven to give everyone ample time to sleep in and leave the castle mostly empty.  Only the first and second years would remain all afternoon and the few upper-class students who had chosen not to go to Hogsmeade.  There were very few of those, even amongst the seventh-years.  Even those who had gotten sick of the monthly Hogsmeade visits still ventured out for Halloween weekend.  The whole village would be decorated for the holiday.

            Since they weren’t meeting until eleven, she had some time to kill.  Rey snatched a roll off the breakfast table and descended the stairs to her common room.  Only two or three first-years had bothered getting up yet.  Two of them sat playing a game at one of the tables and one sat by the fire with a book, nestled in a blanket.  Rey settled in her own dormitory with one of the books from the Restricted Section that Ben had leant her.  She’d had to keep it studiously buried at the bottom of her trunk so that one of the others wouldn’t see and question her about it.

            For all her reading that week, she had found no new useful information.  They would go into the Cursed Vaults almost blind to what lay beyond.  There wasn’t much she could do about that, but she had spent the last several days reviewing all of her notes on protective runes and sealing runic spells.  At least then they would have a hope of making it out alive.

            It was still twenty to eleven when she made her way down to the dungeons.  They had not been able to discover any more runes – and theoretical entrances – to the vault than the two that connected the Hufflepuff and Slytherin dormitories.  They had decided on attempting to enter through the Slytherin rune, since the Hufflepuff hallway to the girls’ dorms was known to expel any boy who tried to go down it.

            She found Ben striding down the hall passed a tapestry depicting an occamy and its eggs, as if he were trying to stay close to it but not be noticed by other students who passed by.  Breathless, Rey stopped by his side.

            “Ready?” she asked.  He nodded once and strode off down the hallway.

            She knew it was no small thing for him to invite her into the Slytherin common room.  The Slytherins were notoriously guarded about letting anyone in there at all.  Such a foreign concept to her.  Hufflepuff House had always been a refuge for Hogwarts students and it was perfectly normal to see students from all houses, even Slytherin, sharing her common room.  Many Ravenclaws especially seemed to prefer the Hufflepuff common room, occasionally even to their own.  Few Slytherins ever invited even their closest friends to their common room.  Certainly, no one of a blood status such as hers would be welcome there.

            “I cleared the common room of first and second-years,” he said as they walked.  “Most were out on the grounds anyway.  Almost all of the upper students left for Hogsmeade.”

            Rey let her curiosity get the best of her.  “Is it true Slytherin House is beneath the lake?”

            She almost wished Hufflepuff were beneath the lake, so she could see out into its depths.  Cassian had once said something that suggested the Slytherins had a window into the lake.  What if the giant squid swam by? 

            The corners of Ben’s mouth twitched slightly.  “You’ll see.”

            Despite the severity of their task, Rey bounded beside him, excited to see the last common room she had never entered.  Hers would always remain her favorite, but she admired the designs of the other two and how they fit each house in turn.

            They reached the bare stretch of stone wall that Rey knew let to the Slytherin common room.  There, Ben hesitated.  “We were warned not to bring outsiders into the common room,” he muttered finally with a sigh.  “Some people still do, but it’s hard to shake off.”

            “I’d offer to go back, but there’s no way I can get you into the girl’s dormitory,” Rey reminded him.

            He nodded finally and muttered the password under his breath, so low that she couldn’t hope to hear it.  Not that she tried.  She knew he had trusted her with a lot just by bringing her here at all.  Her heart stuttered when Ben reached for her hand without a word and led her into the passageway.  Her surroundings went completely dark around her and something warmer and lighter replaced the dank smell of the dungeons.  Light reached her again at the other end of the tunnel. 

            The Slytherin common room, to say the least, was massive.  Cavernous, really.  She figured her common room must be close to the same size in floor space, but where the Hufflepuff common room had low, burrow-like ceilings, these stretched high like a cathedral.  Massive columns carved intricately with all manner of things supported the ceiling, which bore carvings and paintings of its own.  The effect was otherworldly. 

            On the other end of the room, opposite the door, one enormous window took up the entire wall and revealed a view of the Black Lake, complete with waving seaweed.  They were close enough to the surface of the lake that the rays of the sun filtered through the water and cast wavering patterns across the floor. 

            The rest of the common room held many couches and armchairs, all outfitted in emerald green upholstery lined with silver.  Every single one of them had at least one blanket in varying patterns: all green, silver, and black.  Especially towards the main hearth, the place looked primed for some cuddly reading time.  Spherical lamps hung here and there from the ceiling and emitted a green light over the whole space.  It would have been dim except someone had spaced chandeliers throughout the room and lit the bookcases along the wall with deep recess lighting that came from nowhere.  A three-tiered fountain with a ring of mugs around it bubbled at the center.

            The whole space was cozy and wonderful and far different than she’d expected.  Although, she chastised herself with the benefit of hindsight, did she really expect a bunch of purebloods to hang out in a damp, murky dungeon?  No, the place had the feel of a mysterious shipwreck or the aquarium she’d once had the chance to visit in London. 

            Ben shifted beside her and brought her to the task at hand.  “Sorry for the chill,” he said as he stepped farther into the room.

            “Chill?” she asked, genuinely confused.  The room was many things, but damp and chilly was not one of them.  “It’s perfect in here.”  Like bathwater that suited your temperature ideally.

            Ben froze a few paces ahead of her and turned slowly.  He gave her such a long, searching look, his brows drawn together, that she wondered if she’d said something wrong.  “You…you really think so?”

            “Ben, this place is marvelous,” she said.  “Just look at that view out into the lake!  No wonder you keep this all to yourselves.  I’d never leave.”  _If there were no Slytherins like Hux or Krennic to bother me,_ she amended to herself.  “What’s that fountain?  Why are there cups around it?”

            “Oh, this.”  He reached it in three massive strides, a big smile like she’d never seen splitting his face.  Like Ben Solo was _proud_ to show off his common room.  The idea made her warm inside for reasons she didn’t have the brain power to process at the moment.  “It’ll give you whatever you want to drink.  Taste, anyway.  A few of the Slytherins tried to get firewhiskey out of it, but it won’t get you drunk, so what’s the point?”

            She laughed at that.  “Do you spend a lot of time in here?” she asked. 

            Truth be told, she knew next to nothing about what he did with his free time, aside from Quidditch and his horrible friends.  Did he spend time in his common room?  Did he retreat to the library for peace and silence?  Did he go for long runs across the Hogwarts grounds?  Rey couldn’t have said.

            He shrugged in answer.  “I read and finish my work in here often,” he said, stepping away from the fountain and towards the enormous wall that offered its view into the lake.  “It’s comfortable and no one bothers me.”

            The floor stepped down into the room beside the lake and revealed many recesses tucked into the walls that still boasted views of the lake window but hid their occupants from prying eyes.  Ben had brought her to one in particular, tucked right up against the window, so someone could sit on the cushioned chair and be surrounded by the hazy green of the lake. 

            “This is incredible.”  She stepped into the recess with him and noticed the smile that lit up his face at her words.  The small space forced them closer together, so close that their arms nearly touched.  When she looked up at him, it dawned on her that they were closer than she thought they’d ever been before.

That thought brought her back to the present.  Clearing her throat and stepping back out of the recess, she said, “We should probably find the entrance, I suppose.”

            She didn’t want to admit that she regretted having to leave the Slytherin common room – and proximity to Ben – so soon.  There was so much there she wanted to explore.  Ben could probably tell her all the secrets of his common room.  She wondered if he would one day.  But now he shook his head as if dazed and stepped out of his recess.

            “Right.”  He left the window room behind and stopped before an ordinary-looking bookshelf.  At his touch, it slid aside to reveal a carpeted hallway that spiraled upwards.  Windows spaced every few feet looked out into the lake.  They only had to go two doors up to get to the right one.  It opened to reveal a room of four-poster beds, brilliant emerald hangings, and windows that revealed more of the lake.  Ben crouched beside one of the beds and traced a mark on the wall with the tips of his fingers.  Rey wedged herself into the space between the beds with him and looked at the rune carved into the wall.

            “It’s exactly the same as the one in Hufflepuff,” she breathed.  Her heart raced.  Here they were, so close to the Vault she could almost taste it.  “Do you want to trace the runes or shall I?”

            She felt the deep breath he took.  “You do it.  You’re better at Runes.”

            Rey snapped her head to face him.  He had never, ever, even once admitted that she might be better than him at something, certainly not Runes, his chosen subject of specialty.  “I certainly am not.”

            Ben gave her a look.  “You’re top of the class now and have been all year.  Just trace the Runes.”

            She frowned at him but couldn’t argue.  She knew that she was, in fact, top of the class, but he had been about half a point behind her all year and _that_ wasn’t exactly the best measure of skill.  Nevertheless, they were short on time and so she pulled out her wand and started tracing glowing blue runes on the wall starting directly above the chiseled mark.  She worked slowly, deliberately, and Ben didn’t breathe beside her until she had traced the last rune of the opening spell onto the wall.

            As she lifted the tip of her wand away from the stone, a grinding sound filled the room.  They turned as one to see a section of the wall opposite them slide back to reveal a narrow hallway.  Rey turned back to Ben with an amazed grin, the look mirrored on his face.  It was one thing to discuss the possibility of the Cursed Vaults, quite another to have opened one in reality.

            Ben got up from the floor first and pulled her to her feet.  They paused before the new opening in the wall.  If they stepped inside, there was no going back.  She didn’t know what they would find inside and there was a good chance that they could end up like Maisey and Steel.  She turned to Ben, ready to tell him to draw his wand, but he had it out already.  His face reflected the same bitter determination she felt in her spine.  They had come this far.  They would see this through.  Together.

            Rey took a deep breath, muttered _lumos_ , and stepped into the darkness of the vault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger! Next chapter will be up on Wednesday. What did you think of the Slytherin Common Room? I couldn't abide by the film version. It was so dark and uncomfortable. Why would anyone want to hang out there? But still, I tried to come up with a warmer version that still suited the house. Did it live up to expectations? See you on Wednesday for more of the Cursed Vaults and Reylo!


	19. Rock and a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben find out what has been sleeping in the Cursed Vaults for so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super sorry! I got a new computer last night and wasn't able to post, but here we are! I hope you enjoy this belated chapter nonetheless.

Rey’s trainers crunched on the gritty stone as she stepped into the Cursed Vault.  Ben followed just behind her, the tip of his wand also lit to cast wary shadows over the walls.  The stone in Hogwarts was old, but this stone felt as old as the earth.  The air changed too, suddenly damp and heavy and oppressive in her chest.  They made it five steps inside before the grinding of stone rang out again and the door slid shut, sealing them in like a tomb.  Rey glanced up at Ben, just a foot or so behind her.

“Maisey and Steel got out somehow,” she whispered.  A reminder to both of them.  He nodded once.

They moved along the passage slowly, lowering their wands to check for traps or runes or anything that may be waiting for intruders.  They encountered nothing.  The stone continued its gritty way smooth and uninterrupted.  It was eerie.  The feeling only grew the longer the hallway stretched.  Rey began to worry that there was no end at all, and they had let themselves become trapped in a magical trick: a never-ending hallway.

Rey raised her foot to take another step and threw out her arm to stop Ben, her foot poised mid-step.  He crashed into her and nearly toppled her over, but a strong arm caught her around the waist and helped regain her balance.  Wordlessly, she pointed down to what she had seen and nearly stepped over.  A thin line of runes in dim glowing blue.

They raised their wands and looked farther past the lines of runes, into a circular chamber beyond.  The light glinted off sconces in the walls and Ben cast a few streams of fire to light them.  They flared to life and revealed the chamber.

At least five halls ran into the round space in a semi-circle, all as dark and foreboding as the one they had just traversed.  The room held nothing but plain stone and an enormous rune carved into the floor at the center.  The curve of the opposite wall was interrupted by a hollow doorway and lit by a flickering, ghostly light from within.

All of this Rey took in with a quick sweep of her eyes.  The line of blue runes they had nearly stepped over ran the entire circumference of the room.  Another line of runes curved in a circle from the doorway to the carved rune at the center of the stone floor, like concentric circles.  More blue runes decorated the outline of the doorway and even the floor beyond.  _Protective runes,_ Rey thought.  Whatever the vault contained, someone had tried very hard to keep it locked inside. 

And they had failed.  Situated as they were at the entrance to the farthest passage on the right, they could not see through the doorway and into the room.  They could, however, see the black tendrils that had nearly blocked out the runes etched around the door and carved at the center of the room.  Like the tentacles of the giant squid, they snaked across the walls and stretched for each of the five passageways that led to the rest of the school.

Rey gripped Ben’s arm, her nails surely hurting him and looked up at him with wide eyes.  This was far worse than they could have imagined.  Some of the tendrils had already crossed the center of the room, leaving the blue line in front of them as the only defense Hogwarts had against the curse.

“Do you think it’s safe to cross the line?” she asked.  They could do next to nothing sheltered in the doorway as they were.

“It’s a risk,” he answered.  “I think, if we don’t step on them…”

Rey took a deep breath.  “Stay here.”

“No,” Ben said and pulled her back before she could cross the line.  “I’ll go.”

He stepped around her and over the blue line before she could object.  She clapped her hands over the yelp of fear that threatened to escape her mouth.  He navigated his way into the chamber, carefully stepping around the black tendrils of the curse, not even daring to step over them.  After a moment that felt like an eternity of him standing in the room, he turned to her and nodded.  Safe enough.  At least safe enough that they wouldn’t collapse on the spot.  No telling what would happen later.

Rey stepped hesitantly over the blue line of runes and joined him in the round chamber.  They moved together in small bursts around the room, avoiding any spot that could be infected with the spreading curse and navigating the uneven stones until they could see through the doorway into the small room beyond. 

It was then and only then that they could see the source of the spreading darkness…a simple, wooden box.  It sat just beyond the doorway on a stone pillar decorated with more blue runes that they could just make out beneath the tidal wave of black spilling from the open lid of the box.  The room itself had been almost entirely covered with those black tendrils.  The closer to the box they came, the more the floor and walls were coated with the effects of the curse.  From so far away, they could not see what lay inside.

“They must have opened it,” Rey said quietly.  Ben nodded, his lips compressed into a tight line.  She stared at the carnage with wide eyes, panic choking her throat.  “We can’t contain this.”

“I think,” he said softly.  “We should tell the professors now.”

Rey turned her eyes to him in shock and opened her mouth to say something, but she caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye.  She turned towards it instead and saw with horror that one of the black tendrils was creeping closer to the passageway to their left.  She tugged on Ben’s arm until he turned to look too.  It was only a foot or so away from the blue line that was all that stood between the curse and the rest of the castle.  She felt Ben go still beside her as the tendril crept forward a few more inches and stopped again.

“We have to do something,” Rey said in desperation.

“We’ll go get the professors,” Ben said and started making his way back towards the passageway they had used before.  The black tentacles had grown there too and cut off their exit.  Rey breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that their path to the passage at the center was clear.  She grabbed Ben’s arm and pulled him to a stop. 

“There’s no time.  It’s spreading too fast.  It could be past the wards and out in the castle before we even get back and then we’ll never stop it,” she insisted, pointing to the short distance between the tendrils and the runes.

Ben’s dark eyes were wide.  “We can’t stay here.  It’s spreading too fast.  No one knows we’re down here.  They’ll never find us.”

“We have to contain it somehow,” Rey said, turning in a circle to see the wards that had been set up and carved into the rock so many hundreds of years ago.  The panic returned, clawing up her throat.  They had graduated to some powerful wards in Ancient Runes, but nothing strong enough to contain _this_ , not when it had already broken through several layers of wards and runes.

“I don’t know the runes, Rey,” Ben said.

She surveyed the ground around her.  _She_ didn’t know the containment runes to make this ward, but _someone_ had.  Someone had carved them into the ground around her.  She had no hope of repeating that, not quickly enough, but perhaps if she could link her runes to the originals…it may just be enough to keep the last layer strong enough.

“I do,” she said and pulled out her wand.  Ben’s hand shook where he gripped his own.  She grabbed his free hand and squeezed it until he looked at her.  “Do you remember the linking wards?”

“I…I don’t know.”  He ran a hand over his face. 

She squeezed his hand tighter.  “Focus, Ben.  You can do this.  I know you can.”

Finally, he nodded.  “I remember.”

“Start them there.”  Rey pointed to the outer layer of runes closest to the only available door.  “Bring them towards me.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked, but did as she said, kneeling to trace the first of the runes on the stone.

“Containment ward,” she said and knelt to trace the runes she knew by heart in a circle around herself.  She made them quickly and precisely, watching Ben inch closer to her until his back pressed against her arm.  He moved out of the way and joined his string of runes with her circle.  They glowed a faint hue of blue.  Almost complete, but not quite.  She slashed her wand across her palm and fresh blood flowed from the cut she’d just made.

“Rey!  What are you doing?” Ben protested.

“Go and get the professors,” she told him.  “I’ll stay and hold the wards.”

He hesitated.  She could feel his panic and fear and reluctance to part from her.  “You can’t stay here by yourself.  You don’t know what will happen.”

“These wards are only temporary.”  She brought her bloody hand down onto the runes and held it there.  The blue flared brighter.  “I have to hold them.  Go!”

He hesitated for a moment longer and squeezed her free hand.  Finally, to her immense relief, he nodded.  “I’ll be right back.  Right back, Rey, I promise.  You had better be fine when I get here.”

With that, he disappeared down the last hallway.  She listened to his running footsteps retreat down the hall until she couldn’t hear them anymore.  Rey knelt alone in the chamber, watching the runes flare their blue glow around her.  She hoped with all her might that he would be back soon.  She had not told him, but she didn’t know how long she could hold the wards.

Minutes passed.  Hours, maybe.  He couldn’t be hours.  Maybe the passage he’d taken didn’t lead back to the school at all.  Maybe it led somewhere else and he had wandered away looking for help.  Maybe he wouldn’t come back for her at all.  She pushed that thought out of her head.  Months ago, it would have been her first thought.  Months ago, she would have believed that Ben Solo would leave her to die in some godforsaken crypt beneath the castle.  Now, though, she didn’t believe him capable of it.  He had hesitated to leave her there, so much so that she’d wondered if he would just refuse outright. 

Ben Solo would come back for her.  She kept that thought in her mind as her vision blurred into a smear of blue and gray and black.  Rey brought the tip of her wand down to join her hand on the runes.  _Ben Solo will come back for me_.  It had certainly been hours.  Her back felt like stone, her knees locked in place.  _Ben Solo will come back for me_.  But when?  She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on.  Her head swam.  Was it just her imagination or was she listing to the side?  _Ben Solo will come back for me._   She could no longer tell which way was up.

It had been days.  Months.  Years.  She had turned to stone, fused to the ground beneath her feet, part of the vault.  Maybe the curse had escaped despite her best efforts and moved into the castle.  Maybe no one would come for her because no one could.

_Ben, help._

The runes sucked her spirit out through the wound on her hand.  She had no energy left.  One minute longer and she’d pass out.  She couldn’t make it.  _Ben, help_.  No, she’d hold on for him.  He’d instructed her to be safe until he got back.  She’d do that.  She wouldn’t put that guilt on him.

But, Merlin, she was so tired.  Her eyelids drooped.  Her wand clattered to the ground.

Just before she could drop to the ground finally and sleep, strong hands caught her under her shoulders and yanked her hands off the blue circle at her feet.  Someone lifted her off the ground and left the feel of stone against her knees and hands behind.

“Put her down in the passage,” she heard someone say from far away.  “Check her heartbeat.  Is she alright?”

Whoever had carried her ignored the voice.  Strong arms still cradled her even after they’d set her down on the stone again and a giant’s hand engulfed her face from temple to jaw, stroking her cheek.  “Rey?  Rey, can you hear me?” a new voice said from the end of a very long tunnel.  She had been close to a tunnel, she remembered.  “I’ve got her.  Help Kenobi.

“Rey,” that same voice came again.  The one accompanied by the arms around her and the hand against her cheek.  “Come on, love, don’t do this.  Wake up.  Rey, you promised.”

She suddenly recognized the voice speaking close to her ear.  Ben.  That voice belonged to Ben.  And she had promised him that she would be fine when he came back.  Rey reached out in the dark for him, trying to reach him, but failed.  Everything weighed her down.  She had turned to stone. 

A rustling came close by her head and then something cold pressed against her lips.  Wait, if she could feel that, then she hadn’t turned to stone.  Liquid flowed into her mouth and she recognized it as the spicy taste of Pepper-Up Potion.  She coughed as it dripped into her throat and finally, finally opened her eyes. 

Ben’s face swam into view above her, colored now with the most intense expression of relief she’d ever seen on anyone’s face.  She coughed the potion the rest of the way down and clung to the arms that still held her.  Merlin, when had Ben Solo started working out?  She decided to think about that sometime when she felt less like she had just come back from the dead.

“Ben,” she wheezed.  “What happened?”

His arms tightened where they held her.  “When we got back, you had dropped your wand and you looked ready to pass out.  I caught you before you fell.”

It all came rushing back to her.  The curse, the vault, the wards.  “Did they work?”

He nodded, a small smile on his face.  “The professors are working on sealing them again for now.”

There was a tightness in his eyes, and she resolved to apologize for sending him to find his mother when she had half a brain again.  She didn’t know how much that had hurt him.

“You were gone so long.”  The words slipped out before she could think them through.

His brow creased.  “It couldn’t have been more than fifteen, twenty minutes.”  He thought about it for a moment longer, his mouth tight.  Something dawned in his eyes.  “Rey, how long do you think we’ve been in here?”

She tried to think back to when they’d first entered.  It felt like years ago.  “An hour, maybe?  If you say it’s only been twenty minutes since you left, an hour and a half total?”

He mulled that over for a moment.  “When I reached Professor Organa’s office, it was just after eight.”

Her eyes widened.  “That’s not possible.  We can’t have been in here for eight hours.”

“Time must pass differently in here,” he said.  That was the only explanation she could think of also.  What time would it be when they finally got out of here again?  Ben looked back over her head to where the professors still worked to contain the curse.  Rey became aware that she was half-lying on the floor in a way that made her spine quirk painfully.

“Can you help me sit up?” she asked. 

He obliged with an arm around her waist and hers shifted to his shoulder so he could support her as her head spun with the change.  With a clearer head, she might have had something to think about his hand on her hip, but not now.  When her vision stopped spinning, she could see that Professors Organa, Skywalker, and Kenobi stood over the circle she had made on the stone.  Professor Organa seemed to be driving back the tendrils that had worked their way towards the door while the other two reformed the runes on the floor and walls.

“We should help,” she muttered, although how she planned to do so, she didn’t know. 

Ben gave her a look.  “You need to rest,” he said.  “We’ve done enough.  And trust me, we’d just get in the way.”

There was bitterness in his voice.  Without thinking, she reached out to smooth the lines on his face.  His gaze, when it met hers, was soft.  “I’m sorry I sent you to get them,” she said quietly. 

He shook his head.  “We had no choice.  I couldn’t have held the runes.”

“You could have,” she said, her vision blurring again.  “You would have.”

His voice came soft and right beside her ear.  “I was worried that we were too late, when we got here.  I thought I was too late.”

She shook her head where it rested against his shoulder.  When had she started to feel so safe around him?  They were going to have a shitstorm of things to figure out after this day.  She pushed that off to worry about another day.  “You promised.  I knew you would come back for me.”

Some time, perhaps, she drifted off against his shoulder.  She should have been more alert, with danger barely five feet from them, but he was so warm and his shirt so soft and she was so _tired_.  When she came around again, the three professors towered over them, talking quietly with Ben.  Rey jerked awake and sat up, rubbing the creases out of her cheek and hoping desperately that she hadn’t started drooling on his sweater.  Professor Skywalker crouched before them, and she felt Ben flinch.

“Ms. Niima, how are you feeling?” he asked, his blue eyes soft.

“Tired,” she muttered.  “Drained.  I have a bit of a headache.”  She looked down and realized that someone had bandaged the cut on her hand.

“That’ll happen, with runes that strong,” Professor Kenobi’s voice sounded from above them.  She looked up to find him smiling.  “That was quite the magic you performed today, Ms. Niima.  As your Runes professor, I’m very proud.  As your head of house, I wish you would have more care for your own wellbeing.”

“Is it contained?” she asked, looking between them.

Professor Organa nodded, her face grave.  “For now.  I will be calling the Aurors and informing them of the incident.  Some Cursebreakers will be called in to check the runes and add more if necessary.”  She paused.  “I will have to do some research into the curse, but I believe we will be able to identify it and will swiftly be on our way to a cure for Maisey and Steel.”  She looked between them.  “What you did today was brave, if a little reckless.  I wish you would have consulted us before attempting to enter a Cursed Vault by yourselves.  Things could have gone very badly.”

Rey felt Ben stiffen beside her.  She had, in fact, suggested that they involve the professors, but he had been reluctant.  Perhaps he expected her to tell them that now.  Instead, she furrowed her eyebrows at Professor Organa.  “I thought you didn’t believe that the Cursed Vaults existed before, Professor Organa.”

The DADA professor had the good graces to look a little ashamed.  Rey felt Ben turn his face towards her, but she did not look up to meet his gaze.  “Well, I suppose you may be right, Ms. Niima.  I didn’t believe they existed until today.  I see now I was wrong.”

“I think,” Professor Kenobi said quietly.  “We should get Ms. Niima to the hospital wing before she passes out right here.”

Rey began to attempt to rise, but Ben scooped her up fluidly into his arms and glared at the professors over her hair, as if daring them to question him.  Whatever they wanted to say, they chose not to comment, although they did exchange glances. 

“I think time moves differently in here,” Ben warned the professors as they left the cursed vault behind them.  “It may be later than you think.  We entered the vault around noon and it only felt like an hour or so.”

Sure enough, when they reached the hospital wing, the clock read after one in the morning.  It was disorienting to have her entire day vanish like that, but Rey was exhausted enough for a full night’s sleep and maybe more after that and she didn’t know what she would do with an afternoon anyway.  It felt appropriate that they had emerged at night, for some reason. 

Ben carried her all the way to the hospital room without the least complaint, careful not to jostle her head too much.  Healer Zarrin came to the door in his pajamas and robe, looking confused. 

“We have news,” Professor Organa said.  The healer admitted them without further questions.  As he sat Rey down on the edge of one of the beds and checked her for signs of injury or trauma, the professors filled him in on the Cursed Vault and what they had found within.  Healer Zarrin had to pause in his inspection of her several times to stare at them all in surprise.

“I’m relieved to hear that you’ve found the cause.  Thank you,” he said, looking between Rey and Ben with so much sincerity that Ben had to look away.  “Ms. Niima, you seem fine, if exhausted.  I’m going to keep you overnight for observation, in case you exhibit any of the symptoms that the others did, although it does not seem likely from what you’ve told me.  Mr. Solo, I’ll need to check you as well.”

“I’m fine,” he said at once.  “I didn’t hold the runes or come in contact with the curse.”  He glanced down at Rey quickly.  “I will, uh, stay the night.  Just in case.  The curse and all.”

Rey wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw him flush.  The corners of Professor Organa’s mouth quirked up, but she didn’t say anything.  Healer Zarrin nodded seriously and found them both cots, beside each other but separated by a thin curtain.  He provided them too with soft pyjamas to replace their dirty clothes.

Rey drifted off to sleep with blue light behind her eyelids, and Ben only a few feet from her. 

But when she woke in the morning, he was already gone.

She tried to tell herself she wasn’t disappointed.


	20. Rip the Rug from Under Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey wakes up from her night in the hospital wing and Ben Solo is nowhere to be found

“Rey,” Rose pestered her for the fifteenth time.  “Will you  _ ever _ tell me what happened?”

Rey felt a small stab of guilt when she looked at her curious friends.  “No,” she said. “I won’t. I’m sorry. Professor Organa asked me not to.”  And she would abide by that request, not least of all because Poe and Finn had the habit of getting into things they had no business around.  Curses and runes were not their cup of tea, but hidden passageways certainly were. She wouldn’t put it past them to try to use the new vault as a passageway into the Slytherin Common Room.  

So, no, Rey would never tell them what had happened.

Poe nodded like the word of Professor Organa was gospel.  Finn and Rose looked more disappointed. Rey thought back to the conversation she’d had with Professor Organa just the day before.

The professor had called both her and Ben into her office to question them about how they had found the vault and who knew about it.  They had quickly reassured her that, to their knowledge, only Maisey and Steel knew about the vault. They had mentioned it, Rey told her, to that little club that met in the library, the Sleuths of Hogwarts, but no one had taken it seriously.  Certainly, no one else had  _ found _ it.  She didn’t imagine anyone would.

Professor Organa had decided – and they had agreed – that the rest of the vaults should go undiscovered.  If found, they would have to be reported and in the wrong hands could be used to wreak terrible havoc. Or they could happen into something they were not at all prepared to contain.  They had all agreed to let the matter rest. They had also agreed to not tell the other members of the school exactly what Rey and Ben had found, lest they go looking for it as well.

Thus, Rey could not tell her friends about the vault, whether or not she wanted to.  And she very much did not. There were many things about the incident that she had no desire to explain.

“At least tell us you’re alright,” Finn insisted.

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” she said.  “Healer Zarrin checked and kept me overnight for observation.  I’m completely fine, nothing wrong with me at all.”

“Except there’s a cut on your hand,” Rose reminded her.  

Rey looked down at the bandage again.  Yes, except for that. The cut had been oddly reluctant to heal, despite Healer Zarrin’s attempts.  Professor Kenobi had assured the both of them that the cut had been affected by the runes and would heal normally, but not at the speedy wizard pace and could not be affected by potions or spells.  That was all.

“It’ll be gone in a day or two,” she told her friends.  It’s nothing.

“You’ve been sleeping for ten hours a night too,” Rose said, squinting at her.  

Rey shrugged.  “I’ve been tired.  I promise, I’m  _ fine _ .”

Her friends finally dropped that line of questioning when they entered the full Great Hall for breakfast.  As had been her habit all week, Rey’s eyes went immediately to the Slytherin table and found Ben sitting among them, his dark hair bowed over his morning toast.  He didn’t look up. She didn’t know why that disappointed her so much. What had she been expecting? That they would be best friends and sit together at lunch and during classes?  That he would leave his sneering, pureblooded friends in the dust and buddy up with Poe and Finn?

Rey shook her head and sat in the seat next to Rose.  She told herself over and over again that it wasn’t fair for her to expect that of him.  After all, she hadn’t given up her seat at the Hufflepuff table to join him in green and silver.

She had been trying, as much as possible, to return to normal that week after they had found the vault.  It hadn’t been easy. First, there was the lingering fatigue and exhaustion that just couldn’t seem to leave her.  Then, there were the nightmares of blue lights and black tendrils, curses that took over the whole school. And there was Ben.  The boy who had worked by her side, saved her life...and had not spoken to her since.

She had woken up in the hospital wing on Sunday morning utterly alone.  Healer Zarrin had informed her that Ben had gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  He did not reappear. Rey had left the hospital wing alone and had seen Ben only in flashes during class as he worked over his cauldron beside Phasma or scribbled down runes on his notepad.

This problem clearly did not drive him to distraction like it did her.  He had not looked her way once. So, why did it bother her so much? Why did it matter if Ben Solo went back to being his usual self and studiously ignored her like he would a piece of furniture?

His words echoed in her head and wouldn’t leave her alone.   _ I thought I was too late. _  The ghost of his hand on her hip, her cheek pressed into his shoulder, itched like a scab.  Why had he been so gentle, careful, thoughtful with her if he still thought of her as the mudblood from Hufflepuff?

But – she had to ask herself – would she even want that?  Would she want to explain why she had suddenly become cozy with mudblood-hating Ben Solo?  Would she want the questions shot her way by her friends, the risk of losing them over him?  What would she give up to have Solo as a real friend and not just a secret partner-in-crime? And the most important question of all…

What was left for them after they’d solved their mystery?

The question of Maisey and Steel’s mysterious illness had brought them together as partners, maybe even friends, but they had answered that question.  Where did that leave them now? Friends, still? Rounds partners? Reluctant former allies? She didn’t know. She hated not knowing.

By Thursday, she could barely stand it anymore.

When she left her common room at exactly a quarter to ten, she half expected him not to be there.  He had been so absent that whole week that she had begun to suspect that he was actively avoiding her.  But he lounged against the wall in his usual spot and didn’t look the least surprised to see her.

“Solo,” she said, regarding him.  He had dark circles under his eyes.

“Niima,” he answered, nodding.  Silence fell between them. Rey felt as if she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, or one leg had suddenly become an inch shorter than the other.  Off-balance. Out of sorts.

“How’ve you been?” she asked when the silence stretched on too long.

“Fine,” he said, quirking an eyebrow at her.  “You?”

“Headache stayed through Monday, but fine now, if tired,” she answered.  He nodded and his gaze slid away from her again. Rey stood there in the hall, feeling stupid and gnawing on her lip.  Maybe things had just returned to normal between them and she had misread the whole situation. Maybe he didn’t feel near as awkward about this as she did.

The bells tolled above them, and he shrugged off the wall to begin their rounds without a word.  Rey kept up with his lengthy stride, flicking her wand to check the rooms as they went. They passed the classroom that they had used to review the illicit books he’d smuggled somehow from the Restricted Section.  She’d never found out how he’d managed that. She thought about asking, glanced over at him, but his face remained as impassive as stone and she decided against breaking the silence that hung between them.

Ben Solo said barely a word to her for their entire rounds, aside from the usual pleasantries and comments.  As they reached the door of the Hufflepuff Common Room, he hesitated.

“Thank you,” he said finally.

Rey turned back to him from where she’d been about to tap the barrels.  “For what?”

Ben turned a little red when he realized he’d failed to complete his thought out loud.  “For trusting me. To get the professors. You trusted that I would come back for you. Thank you.”

She stared at him for a moment, trying to comprehend what was going through his mind.  He had ignored her for the better part of the week and now he was thanking her? After a moment, she nodded.  “Of course, I trust you, Ben. You haven’t given me a reason not to.”

He grew still like he didn’t know what to say about that.  She supposed it wasn’t strictly true. He had given her many reasons not to trust him in the past, but this year had been…different.  Perhaps Ben Solo had finally changed or maybe he just hadn’t been quite as terrible as she thought he was. 

“Goodnight,” he said finally and turned abruptly down the hall, leaving Rey to ponder what had gotten into her round partner’s head.

She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed again.  

That night, she spent the better part of an hour trying to calm her racing heartbeat after another nightmare.  This one had left Ben ensnared in a mass of black tendrils. They’d dropped him to the ground, where he’d started shaking like Maisey had.  Try as she might, she couldn’t get the image of Ben’s unconscious face out of her head. Sometime in the depths of the night, she resolved to forget Ben Solo and his odd behavior, for the sake of her own sanity.

The next morning, she walked into Potions and went straight to the seat beside Finn, who grinned over at her.  She did not look over to where Ben Solo stood beside an empty cauldron and so she missed it when he looked at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of you waiting so patiently for Ben and Rey to finally get together...please be patient with me! Trust me, I want to get there too! But I think Ben has a bit more growing to do and Rey needs to reach some understandings of her own. I just don't think she's the type to overlook some glaring bigotries. Anyway, hang in there! I promise we'll see more action from them soon! I know this chapter is a short one, but the next chapter holds some revelations and developments for our main two!
> 
> As for all of you lovely people who have left such nice comments, I swear I will answer them soon! But know that they are greatly encouraging to me   
> and I appreciate every single one :)


	21. Firewhiskey and Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To everyone's surprise (if only they knew), Ben Solo has Firewhiskey and even some feelings too.

Two weeks passed and Ben Solo was a ghost in her life.  He breezed in and out of her classes, but always remained silent and never looked her way.  This, of course, she did not notice because she had resolved to put Ben Solo out of her mind.  And Rey was nothing if not stubborn. They continued to do rounds together, but mostly in silence.  It was such a stark difference from before and Rey found herself wishing he would even start an argument with her, just for a change of pace.  She caught herself twice glaring at his back in Potions.

Her friends, thankfully, did not notice her fixation (or lack thereof…she had put him out of her mind) on Ben Solo, but they did exchange looks at her odd behavior when they thought she wasn’t looking.  She ignored them and their concern. But on that November Friday, she slipped away from them and out of her common room.

That, to her endless frustration, was when Ben found her.

She didn’t quite know how he had found her.  Although Rey had not taken pains to hide herself, she had attempted to make herself slightly less visible from the door.  She never even heard him approach, but all of a sudden there he was, standing over her with unruly dark hair and an unreadable expression.

It wasn’t the best time.  She half-glared at him from where she lay on the Ravenclaw table, gazing up at the clear starry sky above her and holding a half-empty bottle of Firewhiskey in one hand.

“What do you want?”  She hated how her voice sounded ever so slightly slurred when she had wanted it to sound sharp.  “Come to kick the mudblood out of the Great Hall?”

His brows contracted and the corners of his mouth tilted down.  She found it impossible to believe that she had insulted him. “I haven’t called you that in months,” he said quietly.

She snorted and let her head drop back to the wood of the table.  “You haven’t spoken to me in weeks, Solo,” she reminded him. “And you choose  _ now? _  What do you want?”

He took a long time to consider that, so long that she snuck a glance at him again.  He looked stunned as if she’d slapped him. “I…uh…” He cleared his throat and shook his head.  “Did you want me to talk to you?”

Rey shrugged, her shoulder blades rubbing painfully on the table at her back as she did.  “I guess…well, I guess, I just thought we’d become…”

“Become what, Rey?” he prompted when she didn’t finish her sentence.  

She took a swig of the firewhiskey.  For courage. Just to feel the alcohol burn the back of her throat.  “Friends,” she answered at last. “I thought maybe we’d become friends of a sort.”

Ben remained silent again for a long time, but Rey didn’t let herself look up this time, even for a second.  Finally, he said, “I didn’t think you would want to be friends with me.”

She sat up then, propping herself up on her elbows.  He took the firewhiskey from her and she almost protested that he had no business policing how much she drank when he took a gulp from the bottle instead and winced at the burn.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

He looked down, away from the intensity in her eyes.  “You said it many times. I’m a prick, an entitled bastard, the worst traitor there is.”  She fought her wince. Yes, she had said all of those things, some more recently than others.  She had never thought he was listening so well. “Why would you want to be friends with me?”

“You’re…different,” she mumbled.  “Maybe not different. Maybe I just didn’t know you very well before and jumped to conclusions.  But I was…wrong. When I said those things. I was wrong, Ben.”

He sat on the bench beside her and looked down at the bottle of firewhiskey he still held.  The amber liquid shone in the faint light from the stars plastered across the ceiling. “Why are you drinking firewhiskey in the Great Hall alone?”

Rey slumped back on the table again.  “Not many places I can drink Firewhiskey alone, is there?  Besides, I like the look of the sky and it’s too cold to be outside.”

“That doesn’t answer the question of why you’re drinking Firewhiskey alone.”

He had stayed.  Through her anger and her tart words, he had not left her to her own devices and half-empty bottle of firewhiskey.  He had sat down by her side. But she still didn’t know what to make of Ben Solo and his mercurial behavior. Weeks had gone by with barely a word and now he wanted to act like they were…what?  Friends? He hadn’t confirmed that either. And she didn’t know for sure if she could trust the softness in his eyes.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked, head tilted up to the starry ceiling above her.

Ben seemed to mull over his words for an excruciatingly long time, biting a little on his lip.  “Because,” he said slowly, finally. “I…this isn’t like you and I’m worried.”

Her eyebrows shot up not for the first time that night.  Ben Solo…worried…about her? She took back the bottle so she could take another drink.  “You mean your friends haven’t found out all about my lowly upbringing so they can rub it in my face?”

“If that’s why you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t tell them,” he said softly, his eyes boring into hers with too much intensity.

For some reason, she believed him.  “My parents abandoned me,” she said, the words burning like firewhiskey on their way out.  “I still don’t know why.” She watched the clouds drift across the ceiling as she spoke, not meeting his eyes that she could still feel on her.  “They left me on the doorstep when I was four and never came back. Exactly twelve years ago today.”

She had watched that same door for years, waiting for them to come back and reclaim her and explain why they had been gone for all those years.  It was for her own protection, they’d say. They had never meant to leave her behind. She blinked away the tears stinging her eyes. She would not cry in front of Ben Solo.

“When I got into Hogwarts, I thought maybe they were wizards after all, and they had a good reason for leaving me there.  Or maybe a wizarding family without kids would want someone like me. But they weren’t. They were just muggles and I’m not even sure the wizarding world wants me here at all anymore.”  

The bitterness in her voice tasted like rust.  Ben didn’t say anything at all. Rey risked a glance at him after a moment of silence.  He stared at her like he had never seen her before, his brows knit together as if he were considering the world’s problems.  Rey stared back – his inscrutable dark eyes, soft where they used to be stone, his unsmiling mouth. When the weight of his gaze and unspoken words became too much, she shifted her eyes back to the starry ceiling.  The clouds had cleared, leaving only stars behind.

“You’re lucky, you know.”  This time, she didn’t care that her voice slurred a little on the way out.  Her throat burned raw from the firewhiskey.

Rey felt it when he stiffened beside her.  “What do you mean?”

“No matter what, no matter how bad things got, your parents love you,” she choked on her last words, tears she’d kept at bay with continual doses of alcohol now bubbling to the surface.  She couldn’t look at him.

He stayed silent for a long beat.  “I don’t know if that’s true anymore.”

“It is,” she told him.  “It is.” She could feel his disbelief radiating off of him.  He stared down at his hands as if they were covered in the sins of his past.  She couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “I’m not saying you had a wonderful childhood.  But your parents still care about you so much.”

Ben sat silent on the bench beside her for such a long time that it started to tug at her heart.  She had said the wrong thing. What little friendship they had would be splintered and broken apart, never repaired.  The thought hurt her more than she thought it would and did nothing to stifle the tears pouring from her eyes. When did she start caring for Ben Solo so much?

But finally, he did something that surprised her.  Ben set the bottle of firewhisky down on the ground, pushed himself up on the Ravenclaw table, and soon laid himself out beside her with his back pressed to the wood grain.  He pulled her to him, and she curled into his chest gratefully, her tears surely soaking his t-shirt. Merlin, Ben Solo smelled good too. She hadn’t been this close to him since the Cursed Vault.

“I’m sorry,” she slurred after minutes or hours, wiping the tears from her cheeks with a furious hand.  The whisky made her head swim. She really had drunk too much of it. 

“Don’t be,” his voice came close to her ear.  Rey suppressed a shiver. At some point, he had started rubbing soothing circles into her back.  “I’m sorry today is so difficult for you.”

“I feel…better, I think.  Thank you.” 

If someone had told her at the beginning of the year, when she’d been paired with Solo for her rounds, that by November they would have solved a school mystery together, she would have trusted him with her life, and he would have held her while she cried over her parents…well, she probably would have hexed their face off.  But here she was, her head resting on Ben’s chest in the middle of the Great Hall and nothing had ever felt more fitting.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Rey asked finally, although she made no move to lift her head from his chest.  “First Quidditch match Sunday and all?”

“Probably, considering it’s an hour past curfew,” he said lightly.   _ Shit! _  Rey shot up, the curse coloring her tongue, and reached for the shoes she’d ditched somewhere under the table.  Behind her, Ben Solo laughed. Ben. Solo. Laughed. And paired with it, the most enormous smile she’d ever seen on his face.  “I thought that might get a reaction from you, Ms. Prefect.” 

She froze, staring at him over her shoulder and the bright smile that totally changed his face.  Rey had seen Ben take many forms over the past few months. She’d seen him glowering and petulant, focused with his eyebrows drawn together, cocky with that sideways smirk, even grudgingly giving her a wry smile when she did something that surprised him.  But she had never seen Ben Solo laugh with that goofy grin on his face like the boy he still was. But it spread over his face and a light cracked through that changed his entire aspect. She only realized she’d been staring for too long when the smile slowly faded, and he reached out to her.  Something around her heart clenched.

“Rey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“You  _ laughed _ ,” she said and was glad when her voice didn’t sound the least bit accusatory.  Less glad when it sounded ever-so-slightly breathless. His eyes met hers, still cracked wide open and unsure.  “I’ve never seen you smile like that before.”

“I…”  Words seemed to fail him.  “I don’t remember the last time I did.”

“Do it again,” she said without thinking, like people could smile like that on command.  “Is it the firewhisky talking?”

And he did grin, huge and toothy, right in front of her again.  She couldn’t help the smile that spread over her own face in return as she studied every line and curve of it to memorize the look of his face like that for all time.

Rey finally broke away from the moment, stretching again for the shoes she hadn’t quite reached.  She stumbled a little as she did so, and he caught her automatically with a hand on her arm. “Looks like you need some help,” he said half to himself, sliding across the table to steady her as she stood and shoved her feet into her worn out Chucks.

“You had firewhisky too,” she muttered as she stumbled again.  

“No offense, Rey, but I’m about twice your size and had half as much.  Merlin, did you drink this whole bottle?”

“It was like three-fourths full when I got it,” she protested.  “So,  _ no. _ ”  But her balance wouldn’t cooperate with the struggling clarity of her mind.  Maybe she wasn’t quite as lucid as she thought.

“Please don’t scream,” he said but gave her no further warning before he swept her up into his arms.  Despite the warning, she did give a small yelp and clutched at his shoulders. “Careful, love, I’ve got you.”  She stared up at him in surprise. He met her gaze, a little red around those enormous ears of his. “This ok?”

“I can walk, you know,” she argued, but her voice sounded feeble even to him.  She felt his shrug. 

“Sure, but I’d have to keep you from tipping over anyway.  I’ll get you to the door, you stay upright into your room, deal?”

Rey didn’t really want to argue with that, so she nodded.  For one, his arms really were very strong and held her up as if she were nothing.  Merlin, when had Ben Solo gotten so  _ muscular _ ?  She had somehow missed that development in all of her hatred and grumbling about him.  Two, he still smelled good. And three, the one she argued with herself was most important, her head swam every time she lifted it from his chest, so this would be easier anyway.

He was careful not to jostle her as he carried her back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.  With the smoothness of his gate and the blurriness in her head, she found herself drifting off to sleep.  When he spoke, his voice sounded far away, at the end of a long hallway.

“Going to the game Sunday?” she thought he asked.

“I never miss Quidditch.”

“Will you root for me?”  She looked up to see the humored quirk of his lips.

Rey rolled her eyes at him.  “Yeah, sure, I’ll root for you, just not the rest of your bloody team.  Buncha pricks.”

“Good to know you never change, even drunk,” he said, but something soft lingered in his eyes.  

“Don’t think I’ma wear a Slytherin scarf or some shit.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She only knew when they arrived outside her common room because she heard the familiar tapping rhythm on the barrel.  “You’ll have to take care of the password yourself, love.”

“How did you know that?”

It was his turn to roll his eyes at her.  “You tap it out every evening after rounds.  How do you think?” He carefully set her back on her own feet and steadied her, making sure she still had both her shoes and her wand.  That kind of fussing usually made her petulant and grumpy at whoever had decided she was no better than a child. But, for some reason, she just felt…cared for.  “Will you be alright for the night?”

His dark eyes held true concern for her wellbeing.  She nodded, still clinging to his arms to steady herself.  And maybe because she didn’t want to let go. “I’m fine, I promise.”  She turned and steadied herself on the wall, releasing his warmth and mourning it already.  Rey looked back over her shoulder to find him still there, watching her wobbly progress. “Ben, thanks.”

“Anytime, Rey,” he said, and she felt that he meant it.

“Goodnight, Ben.”

“Goodnight, Rey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	22. Too Fly for a Jedi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude from all the romantic tension (kind of) for lots of Quidditch, conversations with friends, and revelations about Potions. Basically, everyone involved plays lots and lots of Quidditch. Except Rose, who, of course, plays no Quidditch. You get the idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oookay, super sorry about the lapse on Saturday. I was out of town and started a new summer job this week and this chapter is LONG. Basically, I have lots of excuses. But now you get two chapters in one day. Merry Christmas in June.

Rey woke to sunlight streaming through her window, Rose excitedly discussing the impending Quidditch match with Hannah, and a throbbing hangover.  She pressed the palm of her hand to her head and groaned. What she needed was water and maybe a nice hot shower and half the Hufflepuff table worth of breakfast.  She looked down to find that she had stumbled back to her room and fell on her bed fully-clothed. She hadn’t even bothered to remove her shoes or get under the covers.  

The last night came back to her in whispers and spurts.  She remembered a starry sky spread out above her painted on the ceiling.  No,  _ moving _ across the ceiling, the Great Hall.  She remembered lying on her back on one of the house tables, a bottle of firewhisky in her hand and burning her throat.  She put a hand to her throat and felt the raw scrape still there in the morning light. And she remembered…

Ben.  He had found her lying drunk on the table and hadn’t laughed at her.  He hadn’t mocked her, even when she’d spilled her heart to him and cried into his chest.  But he  _ had _ laughed, a wonderful sound that lit up not only his face but the whole room.  Something had shifted last night, she could feel it. But she felt something flutter in her stomach in the piercing light of morning.  Would it hold into the day? Would they be friends of a sort? They hadn’t really talked about that part of it.

Rose’s face appeared over her bed, concern creasing her brow.  “Rey! Aren’t you excited about the Quidditch game? What are you…sweet Merlin, are you hungover?  And you didn’t even invite me?”

Rey sat up, holding a hand to her aching head and toeing off her shoes.  “It wasn’t exactly a party, Rose.”

Her friend sat down next to her at once and put a hand on her knee.  “Sweetie, what happened? What’s wrong?”

Rey stared at her friend.  While Rose knew a little bit about Rey’s background, she had never really opened up about her early life.  But she had told Ben. Didn’t Rose deserve to know as much as Ben did, more even? But no matter how she tried, she couldn’t make her mouth form those words.

Instead, she shook her head.  “It’s nothing, just bad memories.  Don’t worry.”

Rose gave her a sympathetic look, the kind she hated to receive just a little bit, and patted her knee.  “Well, if you need to talk about anything, you know I’m here.”

“I know, thanks,” she answered.  One day, she promised herself, one day she would tell Rose everything and let her in.  But something still prevented that Saturday morning from being the day. 

Rey pushed herself off her bed, ignoring her raging headache with a valiant wince, and headed into the bathroom for a shower, even though she had double Quidditch practice later that day.  The Slytherin team had probably already taken the pitch for one last practice before the big game. The first game of the season. And the one that pitted Gryffindor against its worst rival, Slytherin.  

She couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to Ben blocking every one of Poe’s shots on the hoops.  For how much smack he talked about the House League, Poe got frustrated and sensitive fast. Plus, it was a convenient opportunity for Rey to size up her own team’s opponents, although they wouldn’t be playing them until next term.

Much to Rose’s dismay, Rey went down to breakfast half dressed in her Quidditch gear.  Which mostly meant close-cut pants smeared with grass stains and one of her old holey Quidditch jumpers that Rose hated so much.  Poe had his Quidditch gear on too, but his set was much newer and nicer than her own. The Gryffindor Quidditch team didn’t have practice until the afternoon, although they had managed to squeeze an Inter-House team practice in between Hufflepuff’s and Gryffindor’s.  In short, everyone had lots of Quidditch today except Rose, who would reliably turn up to their Inter-House practice anyway.

When Rey sat down to her slightly-late breakfast, her headache easing up with the application of a pepper-up potion and a shower, Poe had already started grumbling about the Slytherin team.

“Up at the crack of dawn,” he muttered under his breath.  “I hope they’re all sore tomorrow and can’t play…damn Solo is still in his Quidditch gear…just rubbing it in our faces that he got a new broom over the summer.”

Rey paid little attention to her friend’s grumbling, especially when she slid her feet under the bench as she ladled food onto her plate and hit something unmistakably glass.  She reached her hand beneath the table and came up with her mostly empty firewhisky bottle from the night before. With a note pinned to the front.

Luckily, Poe had said something truly offensive about the Slytherin Quidditch team that had distracted her friends, so no one noticed when Rey ripped the note off the bottle and shoved the whisky into her bag.  She kept the note clenched in her palm for a long moment, waiting until Finn had distracted both Poe and Rose by telling them that he would miss the next Hogsmeade trip before she unfolded it and read the neat handwriting.

There was no mistaking who had left her the note.  Her insides warmed as if she had just taken a draught from the bottle at the thought that he recognized where she sat every day with her friends for meals and thought to leave her a note.  The note currently clenched in her fingers.

_ Library, 2PM, Hamish the Humble’s Alcove _

_ Try not to drink it all in one go  _

That was all it said.  Rey thanked her lucky stars that Poe’s impromptu Quidditch practice was set to end at 1PM, if he let them out on time.  She would have just enough time to grab some lunch and swap out bags for her school things before meeting Solo in the library.  The thought made her stomach flip over on itself. Why, exactly, was he summoning her to an alcove in the library on a Saturday?  His note didn’t seem upset or irritated. She resolved to put it out of her mind.

“What do you  _ mean _ it’s a tossup?” Poe said, following up his statement with some colorful swear words.  Finn bit his lip to keep from laughing but stood his ground. “Come on, Gryffindor is so much better than Slytherin.  We’ll trounce them!” 

Finn just shrugged.  “I think it’ll be an interesting match.  Sure, our Catchers are better, no contest there.”  Poe looked slightly mollified at that admission. “Beaters are about the same.  But even you have to admit that Solo’s a first-rate Keeper. Cassian and Jess are ‘bout equal as Seekers, so it’s just down to who gets to the snitch first.”

“Rey, come on, honey, what do you think?  Gryffindor wins easy right?” Poe turned to her for support in the midst of his friend’s revolt.

But Rey also shrugged.  “Sorry, Poe, I think Finn’s got it right.  Cassian and Solo could win it for Slytherin if the cards fall right for them.  But sure, I think Gryffindor has the upper hand, but only by a bit.”

Poe groaned dramatically.  “Betrayed by my own friends.  Fine, you win, I’ll admit that Cassian’s a good Seeker, probably as good as Jess.  And I guess Solo’s a decent Keeper.”

“Poe,” Finn reminded him, and Rey was glad that the job fell to him.  “You’ve only scored three goals on Solo.  _ Total. _  He’s the best Keeper in the league right now.  I don’t have to like the guy to admit it.”

Poe reluctantly agreed that Solo was the best Keeper around, but it certainly didn’t make him happy about it.  At least he could be consoled that they were all rooting for Gryffindor in the match tomorrow. Rey smiled and tucked into the eggs she’d heaped onto her plate.  

“Can we talk about something  _ besides  _ Quidditch?” Rose complained, waving her toast to Poe and Rey both in their Quidditch gear for emphasis.  

“Buzzkill,” Poe huffed.

“Pureblooded prick,” came her sharp retort.

“What would you like to talk about, Rose?” Finn offered with more kindness and a disapproving look at Poe.  The other Gryffindor had the grace to look ashamed.

“How about the monster of a Potions essay Tarkin assigned due  _ Monday _ ?” Hannah said as she sat down beside Rey, also in her Quidditch gear.  “It’s a Quidditch weekend!” she continued as if they could have forgotten.  “What kind of a pureblooded, thick-headed, mummified  _ corpse _ would do such a thing?”

“Isn’t that ever so slightly too dramatic, Hannah?” Eliza said as she joined them at the table, rolling her eyes as if she’d heard the same tirade all morning.

“It is not.”

“Merlin,” Poe said, letting his head drop onto his arms when he remembered the Potions essay that he’d been pushing to the back of his mind since class.  “I wish I wasn’t taking Potions this year.”

“It’s not all that bad,” Eliza said with a shrug.  But, then again, Potions was basically her specialty at this point.  “I just wish we had some more interesting potions to brew. I mean, the Draught of Living Death was interesting enough, but the one we did last week was a snore.”

“Only you would wish for  _ more _ complex potions,” Hannah told their roommate.  The warmth with which she said it and the smile on her face contrasted so sharply with her former complaining that Rey looked between them.  Eliza blushed and looked down. 

“Word on the street is that we’re brewing Amortentia next week,” Poe said, wiggling his eyebrows at them.  So, he’d noticed something too. Or he was just being Poe.

“Are we really?” Rose and Hannah said at the same time.  Eliza didn’t seem to consider this potion any better than the last one.  

“I’ve always wondered what I’d smell,” Rose said to herself, her eyes fastened somewhere over Finn’s head.  Distracted as she was, Rose missed the way Finn’s eyes darted to the worn leather jacket Poe always wore and away again.  When she caught his eye, Rey raised a brow at him, but he just shook his head.

“At any rate,” Rey said, hoping to break the sudden romantic tension hovering between all of her friends.   _ Merlin _ was she glad to not be caught up in all that madness.  She had quite enough to deal with even without the confusion of attraction and sting of rejection.  “It’ll be an interesting Potions class for sure.”

“As long as we don’t get paired with any Slytherins,” Poe groaned.  “We’ll have to make a pact that day and all save each other seats so no one is stuck finding out what Hux thinks is attractive.”  He gagged at the table just thinking about it.

Rey checked her watch.  “I want to get some flying in before practice.  I’ll see you on the pitch, Hannah. Catch you guys later.”

As she stood, she noted with a sort of distraction that Solo sat at the Slytherin table, still in his Quidditch gear and staring down at the wood grain of the table.  He looked kind of good in green.

Rey made her way towards the front doors. As soon as her feet touched the grass outside, she ran.  Winter hovered ever closer; she could smell it in the chill wind that whipped at her face and tore through the holes in her worn sweater, but it had not yet started to snow.  She couldn’t wait to get into the air. Even though she flew several times a week, it never lost its thrill and charm.

When she drew near the Quidditch pitch and could see a few yellow seaters milling around on the grass, Rey leapt onto her broom and kicked off into the air.  Malbus and Dameron tilted their faces up and laughed as she shot over their heads. “There’s our Seeker!” Kes Dameron called.

Rey tilted her broom towards the sky and closed her eyes.  The warm sun contrasted with the chill wind beating against her reddened cheeks.  It blew away the last vestiges of her hangover. She took herself through her paces, making laps around the pitch and cutting close to the towers.  Only when the rest of the team had gathered and kicked off to hang in the air did she return to center field. Rey pulled up between Hannah and Jo. Melshi nodded to her in greeting.

“‘lo, Rey,” Malbus said briefly before turning his attention back to the group as a whole.  Beside her, Jo grinned, looking happier than she had in months. They had all heard that Maisey was making a full recovery and would be able to return to school before the end of term.  

“Right,” their captain began, drawing her attention back to Quidditch.  “I know we’re all excited for the game tomorrow, but we can’t afford to lose our heads.  Gryffindor and Slytherin are both strong contenders this year. I’m not worried about Ravenclaw too much, but we should be watching both teams tomorrow to find their weaknesses.  That goes for all of us, even the Beaters. You need to know where to aim those Bludgers.”

He drove them through their paces quickly.  Soon, Rey’s arms burned and her hands went numb where she clutched her broom.  Their first match of the year was shaping up to be a brisk one. It would only get colder before they played their match against Ravenclaw.  Malbus seemed more determined than ever to wear them out and make them improve. Most of his ire fell on the Beaters, whose grips kept slipping on their bats.  Jo saved every Quaffle thrown at her, an enormous grin on her face.

Their practice done, Rey landed in the sand and ducked into the locker room to grab an apple from her bag.  She had stashed it there after breakfast for her snack between practices. Her stomach grumbled its appreciation.  When she bid her teammates goodbye and headed back to the pitch, her unofficial second team had mostly gathered.

Hannah cracked her neck and weighed the Beaters bat in her palm.  Everyone agreed that it wasn’t ideal for most of them to have two practices in a row, but time on the pitch was limited, especially with several of them being prefects as well as Quidditch players and the official games coming up.  Rey waved to Rose and Eliza in the stands and envied them the steaming mug passed between mittened hands. Rey’s hands were nearly frozen and here she was ready to play Chaser of all things.

“Alright,” Poe said, frowning at the brackets he’d scrawled on a napkin.  Poe had dubbed himself the unofficial team captain, which Rey didn’t think was entirely fair.  “The long and the short of it: we suck.”

Hannah rolled her eyes.  “We do not, Poe. We’ve only lost one game and that was Rogue One.  We’ll play them again and beat them this time.”

“We’re going up against The Marvelous Six this week and, as much as I hate that name, they’re tied with us for second right now.   _ And _ they have some great Chasers off the Ravenclaw house team.  We might lose to them and then we could be on our way out of finals altogether.”

“So, we’ll fly better.  We’re all getting better as the season goes on with constant practice,” Finn reminded him.

“Yeah and the other teams are too.”

“Are you going to suggest something or just keep bitching?” Rey asked him finally.  He glowered at her over the napkin and lifted his middle finger in her direction.

“Get in the air, Niima, and shut up,” he growled.

Rey mounted her broom and kicked off.  “Gladly.”

They practiced for a while, going through some new drills and maneuvers for the Chasers.  It quickly became evident that their real weakness did not lay in their Beaters, who were first-rate, or their Chasers, who moved together even though none of them played together outside the team.  Rey and her two friends just worked seamlessly. She always seemed to know what they would do before they even started the ploy. No, their real weakness lay in their Keeper. No matter how hard they tried, they hadn’t found a decent Keeper.

Sarkeesian was a nice enough guy, none of them could deny it, but he couldn’t save worth shit.  They spent a while just flying in and firing on the hoops. He missed every single shot even when Rey through straight at him and fired center for an easy one.  He dove right. Poe nearly fell off his broom in frustration.

“Damn it, Rob, are you going to catch a single thing!?” he shouted.  The keeper flushed red in the face. Finn laid a hand on his friend’s arm and told him to take deep breaths.  “Okay, let’s try this again, but this time  _ watch _ where Rey’s going.  She’s not even going to feint.” 

They restarted the play at the far end of the field, passing the Quaffle to each other while the Beaters tried to whack some Bludgers at them to make it just a little bit more difficult.  Rey got possession of the Quaffle and flew straight for the hoop, aiming at the right with an obvious arm. She threw the Quaffle at the hoop, hoping against hope that Sarkeesian would pick up on the clues and get there in time.

And the kid dove.  Merlin, he dove for it.  The Quaffle landed securely in his hands…as he fell off his broom.  Rey reached for him, but she was too far to grab his hands before he slid out of reach.  He plummeted the forty feet to the ground with the Quaffle still in his grasp. Hannah had the good sense to cast a charm to slow his fall just before he hit, but it didn’t stop the sickening  _ crack _ that split the air as his arm hit the sand.

“Get his broom!” Rey called to Finn as she angled her own down and dove for him.  He hadn’t risen from the ground. She plowed into the sand and didn’t care where her broom landed.  “Rob, can you hear me? Come on, kid, you’ve got to turn over.”

He did with some assistance.  “I caught it,” he groaned. “I caught it.”

“Yeah, kid, you did.  Great job.” She eased the ball from his grip.  Thankfully, Eliza arrived at that moment, and Rey could look away before she retched at the sight of his bone poking at his skin.

“Broken arm,” her friend muttered at once, careful not to jostle the arm.  “I’m just going to numb it, okay, Rob?” His only answer was a groan, but she did it anyway.  “We need to get him to the hospital wing. Healer Zarrin will have this patched up in a minute.”

“I’ll take him,” Finn said.  Rey had been ready to offer, but it seemed like a better idea for Finn to carry his weight.  Sarkeesian, although several years younger, was inches taller than her. Finn bent down to help her ease his weight from the ground.

“I’ll come too,” she said.  Poe seemed resigned to the fact that his practice had ended.  She went over to let him know the extent of the damage before they made their way up to the castle.  He had disheveled his hair even further by running his hands through it every couple of seconds.

“We’re out a Keeper, aren’t we?” he asked as soon as she stepped up beside him.

Rey leveled him with a dark look.  “His  _ arm _ is broken, Poe, and you’re worried about your Keeper?”  She slapped him on the back of his head, hard. He winced.  “Shut the hell up and go mourn your team elsewhere.”

She left him behind and joined Finn, helping to balance the unsteady Sarkeesian.  The way to the castle was slow-going. The rest of their makeshift team followed behind them.  She supposed they felt too awkward rushing past Rob and his injured arm to get to lunch. 

By the time Rey left the Hospital Wing, it was nearing 1:30.  Healer Zarrin had checked over Sarkeesian and pronounced him remarkably fine for a forty-foot fall.  Rey credited Hannah’s quick charm for that. The mend took only seconds, with a loud, sickening  _ crack _ that made Rey gag.  She had to admit that she was not cut out to be a healer.  But Healer Zarrin insisted on keeping him for the rest of the day and overnight to check for signs of a concussion that could manifest even hours later.  When she and Finn headed to lunch, Rob was complaining that he might miss Quidditch, so he seemed OK to her.

“I don’t think it wise that Mr. Sarkeesian play Quidditch for the rest of term,” Healer Zarrin said with an apologetic look.  Rob seemed less put out by that than the idea that he could miss the first game of the season.

He shrugged.  “I was rubbish as a Keeper anyway.”

Finn patted him on the shoulder.  “Nothing a little practice can’t fix.  Plus, that was an epic catch today.”

Rey was glad Finn had come along to the Hospital Wing when Rob beamed up at them and apologized again.  They brushed it off.

She barely had time to grab something quick to eat on the way to the library.  The sandwich didn’t sate the growling of her stomach, but she didn’t care. It had turned itself into knots anyway.  She took her time arriving in the library, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet as she ate her lunch. 

Madame Pince barely glanced her way as she wove through the stacks searching for the alcove marked with the smiling bust of Hamish the Humble.  It sat about halfway down the far wall of the library in a section on levitating charms that no one would frequent on a Saturday afternoon when there were much better things to do.  Sunlight streamed through the high windows, catching the dust motes that swam in the air within shafts of light.

Ben sat on one side of the table tucked into the alcove reading a book, his leg jumping in time beneath the table.  He looked up as she approached and clapped his book closed without marking his page. She could see the moment that thought dawned in his eyes.

“Hi, Ben,” she said with a small smile.  “D’you need to find your page again?”

He winced and pushed his mane of black hair out of his head.  “No, it’s fine.” He hesitated. “You came.”

“Of course,” Rey said and took the seat across from him without prompting.  An uneasy silence fell between them.

He frowned at her yellow jumper, and she felt a slight blush creep into her cheeks.  Maybe Rose was right after all. Maybe she should have changed into something with fewer holes in it before she came.  She still wore her grass-stained Quidditch pants too. “Did you have Quidditch?”

“Practice,” she acknowledged.  “No game for us for two more weeks, but we need to make sure we can beat you prats.”

A flicker of a smile passed across his face.  “Right. Can’t let us win the Cup or anything.”

She shook her head.  “No! Not Gryffindor either.  Poe will brag about it until he’s blue in the face and I  _ can’t _ face that again.”

The conversation was stilted, awkward.  She hadn’t sat back in her seat. His foot and fingers still drummed nervously against any surface they could find.  Clearly, he had something he wanted to say, but he hesitated to get there.

“I hope you didn’t leave Quidditch early…”

“Oh no,” she jumped to reassure him.  “We finished practice an hour ago. I would have told you if I couldn’t make it.”  He looked down at the tabletop, anywhere but at her face. It was odd to see Ben Solo so shy all of a sudden.  But, she supposed, not altogether incongruous. He had never been the most social person at Hogwarts. Rey decided, out of her abounding mercy, to help him along a little bit.  “Did you want to talk about something?”

“Oh...yes,” he said as if that idea sounded less than appealing now.  He cleared his throat twice before speaking. “Did you mean what you said last night?”

She scrunched up her face, trying to remember which of the many things she had said last night he could possibly mean.  Had she said something insulting? She didn’t remember being more abusive than usual. “Could you be more specific? Things are a little fuzzy and I remember talking quite a lot.”

“That you want to be…friends.”

Oh.  She did remember saying that.  “Oh, yes, I meant that.”

Ben blinked at her.  “You did?”

Merlin, he looked so unsure.  “Yes, I did. I mean, if that’s what you want.”

“Yes,” he said too quickly.  “Yes, that’s what I want. But I don’t understand why you want to be friends with me.”

She shrugged.  To anyone, she imagined, it didn’t make much sense.  He had spent the last several years calling her every slur and insult a Slytherin could think of.  But…that hadn’t been the case in the last several months. Alone, the change in his patterns wouldn’t be enough.  But they had become partners in several senses and worked well together. And he had come back for her. She trusted him, could rely on him to save her life even…surely that pointed towards friendship in a way.

“You’re…different.  And you saved my life, Ben.”

“I didn’t,” he answered, gnawing on his lip.  “I didn’t, really.”

“You did.  I would have gone looking for that damned chamber by myself if you hadn’t come.  And I would be a missing Hogwarts student now instead of the annoying Hufflepuff that won’t leave you alone.”

“You’re not annoying.”  He sat in silence for a moment, his brow creased.  “Even if you want to be friends with me, your friends still hate me.  My friends still hate you.”

She acknowledged that fact.  “You’re right. I suppose we’ll have to figure that out as we go along.”

He nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds…yeah.”

Rey grinned at him.  “Great. Mind if I study for a while?”

He shook his head, so she propped her feet up on the seat beside her and plunged into the monster of a Potions essay Tarkin had assigned them.  She’d gotten almost half of it done already and had notes on the rest. Hopefully she could go to Quidditch without it hanging over her head. After a moment’s hesitation, Ben found his place in his book again and resumed reading.  She ignored the fact that he occasionally peeked over his book at her, as if to confirm that she was still there and hadn’t vanished.

Most of the sunlight had disappeared as they packed their things to head for dinner in the Great Hall.  Rey threw her bag over her shoulder and paused as a thought struck her. Ben matched her stride and they left the library together.

“Hey, Ben, have you ever heard of the Inter-House League?” she ventured.

He looked down at her from his considerable height.  “Yeah, I think Andor said something about it once. That’s the league your friends all run, right?”

“Yeah, you know, a bunch of cobbled together teams and no snitches.”

“How do you play without snitches?” he asked.  “And why?”

“Set a time limit or a score limit.  And a first-year ended up flying into the Forbidden Forest one night, so we had to go rescue him.”

“Merlin, you must hate that.”

She laughed.  “Yeah, I guess I do a little.  But I get to play Seeker all the time and it’s nice to have a shot at Chaser every once in a while.  You know, shake things up. But, anyway, have you ever considered playing in it?”

“Me?”  He was so surprised that he stopped in his tracks.  

Rey stopped too.  “Yeah, you. You’re the best Keeper in the House League.  You should play more often.”

“I suppose I never thought about it,” he muttered.  “I mean, you lot always ran it and Dameron doesn’t exactly  _ like _ me.  Anyway, I’d need a team.”

“Yeah.”  She rolled her eyes.  “I mean  _ ours _ .”

Solo blinked at her for a long moment.  “You want me to play Keeper for your team?”

“Yeah, like I said, you’re the best in the League.  And we’re short a Keeper. Besides, it’s tons of fun.”

He didn’t look convinced.  “Isn’t Dameron on your team?”

“Well, yeah.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “Who else?”

“Finn, Hannah, and Paige.”

“So, loads of people who hate me.”

“Well, there’s me,” she offered weakly.  “Hannah’s probably indifferent to you, Paige doesn’t care, Finn will get over it, and Poe will deal with anything as long as we win.  And if we have you, I bet we can beat Rogue One.”

“Rogue One?”

“That’s Jyn and Cassian’s team.  They won the championship last year and Poe won’t let it go.  I can’t blame him. It should’ve been us.”

She tapped her toe against the stone.  She couldn’t read what he was thinking.  “And you’re saying Poe won’t hex me out of the air.”

“I’ll just hex him back if he does.”

“Comforting.”

She bit her lip.  “Consider it, at least?  I know they’re not your kind of people, but it’s Quidditch.  It’s not like we spend the whole time having a nice chat.”

“It is a good team,” he muttered.  “Fine, I’ll think about it. When’s your next match?”

“Wednesday.  Let me know by Monday if you want to play so I can break the news and give Poe a solid two days to cool down,” she said.

“Now that’s motivation,” he said.  She shot him a look, but he just shrugged.  “What? I might play just to really piss Dameron off.  You know he won’t be able to resist the idea of winning Quidditch, even if it’s at the cost of putting up with me for a few hours a week.”

She had to admit, he had a point.


	23. What a tangled web we weave

Sunday dawned gray and cloudy and cold.  The November wind thrashed against her face as she wrapped her Hufflepuff scarf tighter around her chin and stepped outside.  Rose huddled next to her shivering already. Finn, however, seemed perfectly at ease. They turned back to wait for Hannah and Eliza to join them.  When they did, Hannah peered up at the low-hanging clouds.

“Rotten day for Quidditch,” she muttered, pulling her scarf tighter.

“Do you think Jyn will murder Cassian if they win?” Finn asked as they joined the crowds of students heading towards the pitch.  

“She’s more likely to murder Solo if he blocks too many of her shots.  Remember that curse she fired at a Beater last year?” Rose chimed in. 

Rey shook her head, remembering the fury on Jyn’s face when the ref had kicked her off the pitch for that incident.  She’d forgotten all about that in the wake of Rogue One’s IHL win. Jyn had been out for their next game against Hufflepuff as well.  Rey had, predictably, caught the snitch and Jyn hadn’t spoken to her for weeks, until after they beat Ravenclaw.

“I hope she tries that again,” Rey said.  “It’ll make this match very interesting.”

“I think it’s bound to be pretty interesting anyway,” Eliza piped up, tugging her coat closer around her neck.  

At first, Rey thought she meant the traditional rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, which always opened the Quidditch season with a nasty game full of fouls.  But she soon realized that Eliza really meant the large expanse of clouds coming in from the west. Indeed, the sky had turned that bruised blue color that meant a certain storm.  She suddenly didn’t envy any of the players in the match today.

They climbed their way into one of the towers as a group, holding on to each other’s robes for dear life to stay together.  Rose and Hannah shouldered their way through the students until they could position themselves at the railing and get a good view of the match.  No one bothered to sit down. The benches would soon become standing room as well anyway. A few people down from them, Shar Malbus leaned over the railing to wave to them.

“Hullo, Rey,” he said with a grin.  “Scope out the Seekers today, would you?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Sure, Malbus. Maybe you’ll pick up some ideas on how to coach.”

“That’s cruel, Niima,” he answered.  “Respect your captain.”

“Right, where is he then?”

Shar Malbus was prevented from replying by the arrival of the announcer to the box and the referee to the field.  Professor Antilles had been the flying instructor at Hogwarts for the past six years. Professor Skywalker had brought him on just two years after he had assumed the role of headmaster.  Many said that they had fought together and flown together in the first war against Snoke. If Luke was known as an exceptional flyer, Wedge Antilles could at least match him.

“Welcome back to the first Quidditch match of the season,” a voice drawled through the magical microphone.  Rey laughed when she spotted Kay Esso in the box. He had somehow been allowed to return as the announcer for Quidditch yet again, though he refused to be excited about anything and made sarcastic comments throughout every match.  His sole recommendation was that he wasn’t very biased, even to his own team, and never missed a single shot. It also helped that he somehow knew every Quidditch move, though he only played on Rogue One.

Rose groaned.  “Who let Kay announce again?”

“I like it,” Eliza said.  “He’s funny.”

“At least he’s knowledgeable,” Hannah said.  “That Slytherin kid didn’t know shit about Quidditch.  He had the right voice for it, but Merlin’s beard. Couldn’t even call a feint when he saw one.”

She had a point.

“Professor Antilles is stepping out onto the field,” Kay said, even though everyone could clearly see the Quidditch teacher and referee in the center of the pitch with the official school balls in their crate.  “Ah, yes, and here’s the Gryffindor Quidditch team.” The red and gold clad team gathered at the entrance to their locker room, brooms in hand. “Chaser and Captain Dameron, Chasers Erso and Darklighter, Beaters Koon and Smith, Keeper Stephen, and Seeker Pava.”

The Gryffindor team shot out into the pitch one by one as Kay called their positions and names, sounding bored by the whole thing already.  Poe did a little flip on his broom as he came out, showing off already. Rey shook her head at him. One of these days, he’d fall off his broom doing something like that and lose the match for his team.  

The Slytherin team was next in their green and silver.  “The Slytherin team is arriving to the pitch now. That’s Beater and Captain Krennic, Chasers Mitaka, Revan, and Shan, Beater Sloane, Keeper Solo, and Seeker Andor!”

At least Kay seemed slightly more excited as Cassian sped out behind Ben on his broom.  The two teams created a circle on the field facing one another with the Quidditch box and the referee beneath them in the middle.  

“Keep the fouls out of this game.  All of you,” Professor Antilles warned them.  Rey could see Krennic’s smirk from the stands.  How Cassian could stand playing for him, she didn’t know.  Antilles released the Bludgers first and they went pelting off into the sky.  Next came the snitch, barely a flash of gold that flitted around the players before vanishing.  Rey caught a glimpse of it by the Slytherin hoops. Finally, the quaffle. 

“The Quaffle is released and the game begins,” Kay said as Antilles threw the quaffle into the mix of Chasers and hurried off the field.  As soon as the ball left the referee’s hand, Ben sped towards his team’s hoops and took up his post before them, watching the progress of the quaffle with a keen eye.  The Seekers both shot upwards and hovered above the rest of the game, circling and looking for any sign of the snitch. A predictable move but not a bad one.

“Dameron with the quaffle, to Erso, back to Dameron, to Darklighter, to Erso…no, Mitaka has intercepted it…never mind, back to Dameron, Erso, Dameron, a fantastic Monet’s Drop by Dameron to Darklighter…”  Kay kept up his running commentary, never missing a single possession change. She could appreciate that. It was difficult to tell which of the red-gold blurs held the quaffle as they made their way down to the other end of the field.  “Erso shoots. Solo saves it.”

Yes, he had, so fluidly he seemed to move before the quaffle had even left Jyn’s hand.  Frustrated, she turned to defend their end of the pitch as Revan took possession from Ben.  She had to admire Poe, Jyn, and Biggs Darklighter. They worked well as a team. And they were clearly the better Chasers on the field.  Unfortunately for them, Solo was also clearly the better Keeper.

“Solo saves another shot by Dameron,” Kay said yet again.  Rey could see Poe’s frustration in the set of his shoulders.  Six solid shots on the hoops and no points yet. “Mitaka takes possession, to Revan, to Shan, back to Revan.  Dameron attempts a Savant Steal but Revan outmaneuvers him and passes to Mitaka, to Shan. Shot…Shan scores. Ten-zero to Slytherin.”

Poe paused for the barest of seconds to scold their Keeper before reeling down the field.  Kay continued his commentary, “Dameron with the quaffle. Almost took a bludger there. Should have passed.  Finally, Dameron to Erso, to Darklighter, to Dameron again. That was a sloppy shot. Dameron’s getting frustrated.”

It wasn’t until the score had been raised to forty-zero that Jyn finally scored the first goal for Gryffindor.  Rey leaned forward, her nails digging into the railings. Ben was doing his job admirably, but she didn’t want Slytherin to actually  _ win _ .  The Seekers buzzed overhead like crazed vultures.  Neither of them had even tried to dive for something.  The Beaters hit bludgers at the opposing team with a vengeance.  Revan landed another two goals in a row and Stephen wasn’t even near them.

“Stephen needs to get his head out of his ass,” Hannah muttered.  “Merlin, sixty-ten. This isn’t looking good.”

“Come on, Jess,” Rey muttered.  “Come on, Jess, find it. I saw it by the Gryffindor hoops five minutes ago.  Come on.”

Kay Esso continued his commentary.  “And that was a spectacular miss by Jyn Erso,” he said.  Even out on the pitch, Jyn sent her middle finger at him as she flew by.  “She’s just as pleasant on the pitch as she is normally. And oh, Cassian almost gets pelted by a bludger.  Don’t they have someone to take care of that? Oh yes, the Beaters. Too bad Slytherin doesn’t have those.”

Krennic yelled so violently that his face turned purple.

“There goes Stephen and his butterfingers again,” Kay drawled.  “Even Mitaka could score like that. And he did. 90-20.”

The score rose to 100-20 moments later.  Cassian dove once for something near the ground and the entire stadium held its collective breath, but he came up empty.  Poe called a time-out and roundly chewed out Stephen for failing to defend their goal. As soon as they took to the air again, Revan scored another ten points for Slytherin.

And then, finally, Pava pulled her broom into a beautiful arch, plummeting towards the ground as fast as her Nimbus would take her.  Rey leaned forward and squinted and finally made out the glint of gold near the ground. It darted a foot to the right, unmistakably the real Golden Snitch and not just a trick of the light.  Cassian saw it too and dove after Pava, but she had too much of a head start. The game paused around them to watch the phenomenal dive of both Seekers. 

Pava pulled up a hairsbreadth away from plowing into the earth.  Held aloft in her triumphant hand was the Golden Snitch.

“Jessika Pava has caught the snitch.  Gryffindor receives a hundred and fifty points.  Gryffindor wins 170 to 100,” Kay announced into his microphone before setting it aside.  A seventy-point margin. Not too bad, Rey thought. Gryffindor could still be overtaken even if they won against Ravenclaw.

She cheered for Poe and Jyn and the rest of the Gryffindor team, who nearly tackled Jessika in mid-air.  They dropped to the ground to continue their celebration. The Slytherin team snarled at them as they went but didn’t dare to fire any curses at them with the entire school watching.  The pitch rang with cheers and cries of  _ fly, fly Gryffindor! _

They waited for the victorious team to enter the locker room and the general hysteria to die down before attempting to leave the pitch.

As they tried to descend from the stands, Finn sighed.  “I guess that means we’re not sleeping tonight. I know Jyn and Poe have been stocking up on firewhisky for just this turn of events.”

The sky opened up shortly after the match ended and the student body arrived at the castle sopping wet and in high spirits.  The Gryffindors ran  _ en masse _ to the stairs, led by Poe and Jyn in their Quidditch robes.  A blur of red and gold followed them.

“Party in the common room!  No Slytherins allowed!” they hollered, followed by more chants of  _ fly, fly Gryffindor! _

“I’m going to change,” Rey said to Finn.  “I’ll see you up there.”

When she climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower, the party was already in full swing.  Rey stepped through the open portrait hole and into the chaos, passed a few giggling couples heading out for some more privacy.  The prefect side of her valiantly tried to ignore that. Poe stood in the center on a chair, still brandishing his broom and clearly several shots of firewhisky down already.

“We handed their asses to them,” Poe roared.  The crowd around him cheered. Rey wasn’t sure she’d been watching the same game.  She shoved her way through the throng and took up a spot by Finn. On his other side, Cassian stood watching the celebration with an amused smirk.  It didn’t surprise her to see him there, despite the ban on Slytherins. He practically counted as an honorary Gryffindor anyway. No one blinked twice at his presence.

“Star of the Match!” Poe announced and everyone quieted down to hear who would be declared Star of the Match.  Not that there was any real question. “Star of the Match goes to Jess Pava! For that beautiful, match-winning dive!”

He pulled her up so that she shared the narrow seat of the chair with him and presented her with a bottle of firewhisky.  She took it, beaming, and allowed him to raise her hand in triumph. And there, in the midst of the thrum of the crowd and the heady rush of victory, she kissed him full on the mouth.  

The roar of the crowd faltered for just a moment before resuming even louder than before.  Poe returned the kiss with abandon, nearly dropping his prized broom in the process. Rey felt her stomach plummet as she turned to gauge her friend’s reaction.  Finn had frozen where he stood, staring at the spot where the couple had finally disengaged, Jessika beaming again and Poe looking rumpled and dazed. Rey’s previous excitement turned cold.  Finn’s dark eyes met hers and he swayed a little on his feet, as if he would be sick.

“Excuse me,” he said and swept out the portrait hole without a backward glance.  Rey watched him go, torn between giving him space and a comforting presence. She made her way to the drink table instead.  A shot of firewhisky seemed in order.

“Hullo, Rey.”  She paused in the act of throwing back her third shot of firewhisky and turned to see Jessika standing beside her at the drink table.  She set the shot down and swallowed back the bile that bubbled in her throat. She shouldn’t react this way to Jessika. The Gryffindor Seeker was a sweet girl, driven and intelligent and an ace Quidditch player.  It wasn’t her fault that one of her best friends happened to have an unspoken crush on one of her other best friends, whom Jessika had just had the fortune (or misfortune) to kiss. On second thought, she took that third shot.

“Wotcher, Jess.  Bloody fantastic catch today.”  She even managed a smile.

Jessika beamed.  “Thanks, Rey. I thought I’d hit the ground.”

“Well-executed,” she commented and decided to escape before Jessika brought up Poe or anything besides Quidditch.  She craned her head as if catching sight of a friend. “I think I see Rose. I want to catch up with her. Cheers, Jess.”

Rey darted away before she could say anymore.  She had, in fact, spotted Rose arriving through the portrait hole.  She grabbed a butterbeer and offered it to her friend. Merlin, what a mess that evening had become.

“Oh, hey, Rey, thanks.  Where is everyone?” Rose took a healthy drink of her butterbeer.

“By everyone, I assume you don’t mean the thousand Gryffindors milling around.  Poe’s off probably snogging Jess again. Jyn and Cassian are over there.”

“Where’s Finn?”

“I…don’t know actually.  I was just about to find him.  Mind if I duck out for a minute?  Oh, there’s Hannah and Eliza.” Rey tried to skirt away from her friend, but Rose wouldn’t let her go.

“Oh, I’ll come with you.  Just let me congratulate Poe and Jess…”

“Actually, I need to talk to him alone for a minute.  But I promise, I’ll bring him back with me in a few,” Rey interrupted.  Rose’s face fell, but she nodded and went to talk to Hannah and Eliza. She’d have to smooth things over with her friend later.  She had to find Finn before he wandered off too far.

“There you are!  Rey!” To her dismay, Poe caught up with her just before she stepped through the portrait hole.  “Man,” he said, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. “It’s been a whirlwind. Where’s Finn?  I thought I saw him heading this way.”

“Yeah, I think he did,” Rey said, trying and failing to keep the ice out of her voice.

“What a bore.  He’s missing quite a party.  I thought he’d at least come and say something before he left.”

“Well,” she snapped.  “You were busy.”

Poe finally looked at her,  _ really _ looked at her.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, Poe, that you’ve probably royally fucked something up and you don’t even have any clue,” Rey said, losing her patience with her rash friend and taking a threatening step towards him.  

He scrunched his eyebrows together and looked down the hallway.  “With Finn? What did I do? Should I talk to him?”

She snatched the bottle of firewhisky from his hand before he could take another drink.  “Not tonight, Poe. Not while you’re drunk off your ass and snogging Jess.”

She turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway in search of Finn.  In truth, she didn’t know where he had gone, but she didn’t want to stop and puzzle it out now, so she just kept walking.  

It took her all of three minutes to figure out where he had hidden himself.

Fresh rain beat against the glass and scattered droplets of shadow and light across the opposite wall.  It sounded more loudly in the narrow confines of the little-used staircase than it had in the common room.  She found Finn sitting on the windowsill, looking out at the rain-soaked grounds of Hogwarts and the Quidditch pitch in the distance, it’s towers now dripping and forlorn.  He had clearly been crying, although he’d done an admirable job of scrubbing the remnants from his swollen cheeks.

“Hullo, Rey,” he said without enthusiasm.

“Mind if I sit?”  She pulled herself up onto the windowsill across from him before he’d answered.  For a long moment, they just sat in silence.

“Do you think it’ll ever get better?” he asked finally.  “Seeing him with someone else?”

Rey wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t have to get used to it, that Poe would come to his senses and realize that he didn’t want anyone else, but she couldn’t.  So far, Poe had shown no signs of figuring things out for himself, and all Finn had earned from this was a bleeding heart.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly.  She had never been in that situation herself.  Cradling her feelings in her heart, watching someone not feel the same way, wondering if they ever would, if they could ever overcome their differences and…she pushed whatever  _ that  _ thought was away.

“It’s not fair of me, I know it’s not,” he muttered to himself, wiping away a few stray tears.  “I shouldn’t expect more of him. He’s been everything to me: friend, brother…it’s not fair of me to ask for something he can’t give.”

“You can’t help what you feel,” she ventured.

“No,” he sighed.  “I suppose I can’t.  But I can stop letting myself hope.  It’s not going to do me any good, that much is clear.”  He wiped his eyes again and gave her a weak smile. “I’ll be alright, Rey.  You’d think I’d have gotten used to this unrequited love thing by now.”

“Finn,” she said quietly and hesitated.  “Why don’t you just…ask him?”

“Ask him?” he echoed.

“If he feels the same way.”

“Isn’t it obvious that he doesn’t?  He’s in there snogging Jess.  _ That _ should be a clear enough sign that he doesn’t feel the same way.  I don’t think he even…I don’t think he’s attracted to…well, men.”

Rey had exactly zero doubt that Poe Dameron was attracted to men.  However, she had little evidence to prove this theory and, if she were wrong, well…she did not voice it.  He had a point. Telling someone you’re in love with them was hard enough when that person wasn’t your best friend and roommate and just about everything to you.  And it was hard enough when you actually knew that the person could theoretically be attracted to you. Finn had neither of these things working in his favor.

“Maybe Poe hasn’t quite figured all of that out yet,” she said instead.  After all, she’d seen the looks he gave Finn, whenever he said something that still surprised him after all these years or when he wore that old jacket of Poe’s.  She would bet her last ten galleons that Poe felt  _ something  _ for Finn.  Something that went beyond friendship.

“Come on,” he said, shifting his legs off the windowsill.  “Let’s get back to this party.”

Before they headed back to the Gryffindor common room, Rey pulled her friend into a tight hug.  And they did return to the party and talked with their other friends and Finn tried valiantly to ignore Jessika sitting on Poe’s lap and occasionally snogging him.  He only made it until nine o’clock before he went up to bed, claiming a headache. By that time, Rose had imbibed so much firewhisky that she was well on her way to becoming drunk as well.  Rey had pulled her a little aside from the group, so that she wouldn’t say anything she’d regret in the morning.

“Don’t let Finn go to bed,” she slurred.  “I have to tell him something.”

With a sinking feeling in her chest, Rey suddenly understood why Rose had gone straight for the firewhisky.  Liquid courage. The kind her friend really did not need. “I think it’s time we get you back to the dormitory.”

She bid their friends good night and helped Rose stand with an arm around her waist.  Her friend mumbled the whole way back about needing to talk to Finn tonight. Rey whispered reassurances until they had reached their room.  She supervised her friend changing into her pyjamas and made her take some pepper-up potion to ease the alcohol raging in her system and the hangover she was sure to have come morning.

Rose massaged her forehead as she came down from drunk to just buzzed and frowned.  “I needed to talk to Finn,” she muttered. “Why did you stop me?”

“That wasn’t the best time, Rosie,” she answered, sitting down on the quilt beside her.  “What did you want to tell him?”

Rose’s head lulled onto Rey’s shoulder.  “Didn’t you know? I like him, Rey, I really like him.  Like, in a  _ romantic _ sort of way.”

_ Great, _ Rey thought.  Why did she have to deal with her friends and their mixed-up romances all in one night?  Well, she figured she had to get it out of the way with Rose sooner or later. May as well be sooner, for everyone’s sake.

“Lay down, Rosie, I have something to tell you.”  

Rose did as she asked, mumbling, “what is it?”

Rey laid beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  “Rose, I don’t know how to say this nicely, but Finn doesn’t like you back.  He  _ can’t _ like you back.”

“He…can’t?  What do you mean?”

“Rose, Finn is gay,” she said softly.  She felt her friend go still in her arms.  “And he’s in love with…someone else already.”

She was silent for a moment.  “It’s Poe, isn’t it?” she asked finally.  Rey nodded. “I suspected, but I thought they were just close.  I didn’t want to think that.” That was about the point when the tears started.  Rey held her friend as she cried. Disappointed love was a terrible thing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Rey.”

“ _ Shh _ , it’s alright.  I wanted you to know before it was too late.  I didn’t want you to find out another way. I’m sorry, Rosie.”

They stayed up late, whispering to one another until the other girls started trailing back into the room for some sleep.  Even then, Rey did not return to her own bed. She held Rose until she cried herself out and then to sleep. 

Rey lay in the midst of the quiet room surrounded by her sleeping friends and was grateful that she had not fallen for one of their classmates or friends.

And the next morning, when Ben slipped her a note saying that he would play on their Quidditch team, she tried not to think about how her heart soared at the thought.  

It meant nothing.

Nothing at all.


	24. Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sixth year Hogwarts students begin work on the much-anticipated Patronus Charm. Rey takes a deep dive into her happiest and saddest memories.

“You have to be joking,” Poe said for approximately the one hundred and fortieth time since Monday night’s dinner, when she’d informed him that she’d enlisted Ben Solo, yes  _ that  _ Ben Solo, to play for their team.  “I can’t believe I’m contemplating allowing Ben bloody Solo on our team.”

If Finn had been present at that moment, she was sure he would’ve had a snarky comment for Poe, but he had made himself scarce over the past few days, especially whenever Poe was around.  And then there was the matter of Rose, who tended to make  _ herself _ scarce whenever Finn was around.  All in all, Rey considered her friends group a fucking mess at the moment and it was all she could do to hold them together at the seams.

Poe himself looked worse for wear.  He had deep purple circles beneath his eyes, and he had rumpled his usually immaculate hair beyond all recognition.  She’d had to pile food onto his plate just so he would eat.

“You have to be joking.”  He had also acquired the habit of repeating himself.

Rey sighed.  “For the fiftieth and  _ last _ time, Poe, I am not joking.  It’s not like we have any better options right now.  And it’s not like there  _ are _ any better options when it comes to Keepers.  You yourself have said that.”

She could see the war he waged with himself printed clearly on his face.  With Ben, they could win their next match against The Impossible Six, a team which frankly Poe couldn’t stand.  But for that to happen, he had to put up with Ben Solo at least once a week.

“Do I have to be friendly with him?” Poe asked at last.

“You have to be  _ civil _ , at least.”

“But what if he’s not civil to me?”

“Then, I give you full permission to give as good as you get, but no more.  Remember, Poe, we want him to be on our team,” she walked him through the thought process again, hoping to finally win him over to the idea and let it rest.

“Yeah, why is that again?  Do we  _ really _ want him?” Poe scrunched up his nose as if there were five hundred other things he could imagine wanting that did not involve Ben Solo.

“For Merlin’s sake, Poe, do you want to win this damn Quidditch game or not?”  Poe rolled his eyes and nodded. “Then, suck it the hell up and deal with him as our Keeper or you can tell fucking Harry Gaskell himself that we’re  _ forfeiting  _ because we don’t have a  _ keeper _ .”

“No way in hell are we forfeiting to Harry Gaskell and his rotten team,” Poe grumbled at last, his hands balled into fists at his side.

“That’s the spirit,” she said, exhaling her breath in one long gust.

They walked in silence for a few moments, Poe with his eyes trained on the ground.  She took the opportunity to survey him again and the rumpled nature of his clothing.  He looked like he hadn’t slept since winning the Quidditch match on Sunday. When he opened his mouth again, she expected him to renew his protests against Ben as their new Keeper. 

But Poe looked at her with glassy eyes.  “Why is Finn mad at me again?” he asked, his voice low and brittle.

Rey shut her eyes for a second.  “I told you, Poe. You’ll have to ask him that.”

“I did, but he said he wasn’t mad at me.  But I know he is. He hasn’t talked to me all week.  And he leaves the room as soon as I enter it. And yesterday he had already paired up with Hannah before I even got to class.  I know there’s something wrong.” His voice sounded pleading, urgent to her ears.

“I think maybe you should just give him some time, Poe.  He might just need some space…to sort things out.”

“Space to sort things out,” Poe echoed.  “What things? What have I done?”

Rey sighed again.  “I can’t tell you, Poe.  That’s something you’re going to have to discuss with Finn.”

“I suppose so,” Poe said and tripped over his own feet.  “When he talks to me again.”

He perked up a little when they arrived to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  They had moved into a substantial unit on advanced defensive spells and their latest spell was the Patronus Charm.  The advanced sixth-year class had been abuzz for weeks over their Patronus and what form it would take. But for the past two weeks, they had been taking extensive notes on the charm without practicing its execution.

That, it seemed, would end today.  They entered the classroom to find it totally transformed.  The dragon skeleton still hung from the ceiling, yawning above them, but the desks and chairs had been pushed to either side of the room.  The high windows, which usually allowed sunlight to filter into the classroom, had been shrouded in black. Instead of sunlight, hazy candlelight from dozens of suspended candles lit the room.  In place of their usual tables, the cushions they used for practicing stunning spells were strewn across the floor. In the center of it all stood Professor Organa, a calm smile on her face, and Professor Kanata by her side.

Poe and Rey hesitated in the doorway and felt several students behind them do the same.  A few students had already arrived in class and sat on various cushions, looking about them with trepidation.  Rose gave her a pleading look and patted the cushion beside her. 

“Come,” Professor Organa called.  “Find a seat. You may leave your bags beside you or along the walls.  We won’t be needing them today.”

They did as she asked.  Rey took the seat beside Rose and left her bag resting against her knee.  Poe took a cushion a few away from them and stared up at the floating candles.  “Will we need our wands?” he asked.

“Not today, I don’t believe so,” Professor Organa said.  “But keep them close, just in case. A witch or wizard should never be without his or her wand.”

At her words, Rey’s heart sank.  She thought they would finally be trying to cast the Patronus Charm today, but no.  Her fingers itched to try it. Some of the others whispered about how difficult a charm it was to perform and almost impossible to cast silently.  She longed to cast such advanced magic and to see what form her Patronus would take.

The rest of the class filtered in around them.  Finn gave her and Rose a small wave when he arrived but took a seat next to Aaron Aspen, a Gryffindor who shared their room, instead of the one beside Poe.  Ben slouched through the door bare seconds before class officially started. Professor Organa waved her wand and the door swung shut with a light  _ click _ .  

“Good morning, class,” she said.  “Today we continue our study of the Patronus Charm.  We have discussed the history of the charm and its mechanics in great detail over the last several weeks.  Can anyone tell us what form a Patronus takes?”

Rey raised her hand along with about half the class.  Professor Organa called on Poe. “Its form varies based on the witch or wizard.  It takes the form of an animal that represents the true heart of the witch or wizard who casts it.”

“Excellent, Mr. Dameron, a point for Gryffindor,” Professor Organa said with a smile.  “Do all Patronuses take the form of an animal?”

Again, Rey raised her hand, but Professor Organa called on Rose.  “No, they can be corporeal, meaning they take the form of an animal, or incorporeal, just a blinding light.”

“Good, Ms. Tico, a point for Hufflepuff,” she said.  “And what are the requirements for casting a Patronus?”  Professor Organa looked surprised when Ben raised his hand among the others, but she smoothed out her face quickly.  “Mr. Solo?” Her voice betrayed nothing.

“A patronus is an exceptionally powerful charm and requires a skilled witch or wizard to cast it,” he said in his deep, quiet voice.  “It is said that one must also be pure of heart and possess a powerful memory.”

“One point to Slytherin,” Professor Organa said.  “Yes, and it is that powerful memory that we will be working on today.  The most important part of casting a Patronus is the memory you draw on to make it.  As this is a branch of magic that Professor Kanata specializes in, I have asked her to be here for today’s class.”

She yielded the floor to her shorter colleague.  Rey sat up straighter. Divination had not been her cup of tea (or tea leaves) when she had taken it back in fifth year, but Professor Kanata was well-respected throughout the wizarding community and known to be a seer herself.  True seers, those who could receive visions without prompting, were rare.

“Yes, no doubt you’ve been wondering why I’m here.  It’s true what Professor Organa has said. The Patronus Charm, like Divination itself, is a different kind of magic from what you are used to in your usual classes.  It takes skill, yes, great skill and a focused witch or wizard, but it requires much more than that.” 

She adjusted the enormous spectacles on her face and continued.  “The Patronus Charm is an  _ emotional _ form of magic.  There is a rumor that it requires its caster to be pure of heart.  This is a myth. It requires its caster to be in tune with his or her emotions, to understand  _ who you are _ , otherwise you cannot cast this charm.  Some of you may not be able to cast a corporeal patronus at all.  This takes practice and focus and dedication. And we start today.”

Rey shifted on her cushion, trying to get comfortable without the back support she usually could rely on, and fought the urge to tap her foot on the ground.  The Patronus Charm. She’d been waiting all year to learn how to cast it. She leaned forward, waiting for the professors to issue their instructions. Even if they only meditated today, it would be a start.

“Close your eyes,” Professor Kanata instructed.  “Think about your happiest memories. Dwell on them.  Relive the feeling you had then. It can be any memory, as long as it is powerful enough.  The joy in doing something you love, the happiness in being with friends and family, the bliss of a perfect day.”

Rey glanced around the room.  A few students looked dubious at their instructions, as if they didn’t quite know how to do what had been asked of them.  Solo looked downright terrified. She closed her eyes and tried to follow the instructions. 

For a while, she saw nothing besides blackness.  Finally, she tried to recall her earliest happy memory.  There were scattered few for the early years of her life.  Worn hovels with leaky roofs and men that scared her. No memory of her parents at all.  Small glimmers of self-made happiness in Plutt’s Orphanage and the vague hope that her parents would return for her.  No, her first true experience of joy came with the woman standing before her. Rey wondered if Professor Organa knew that she had brought the first radiant beam of joy into a little girl’s life.

It started with her Hogwarts letter and the knowledge that she had a ticket into a wondrous world, one that she could hardly believe was true.  Rey remembered that feeling, the incredulous rapture at the idea that she could be a witch. She, the little, lost orphan with no family nor fortune.  She added to it the wonder at seeing the Hogwarts Express and the castle for the first time, the nervous excitement of meeting new friends, the new friends that turned out to be her best friends.  She cracked an eye open and smiled when she saw Rose’s face screwed up in concentration.

Would that be enough to conjure a corporeal Patronus?  Maybe not. 

Maybe true joy resided in the little things.  She thought of the swooping in her stomach the first time she flew on a broom.  The excitement that bordered on nausea of her first Quidditch game. The bursting of her heart when she caught her first snitch and her friends had streamed out onto the pitch to embrace her and celebrate with her.  Poe and Finn didn’t even seem to mind that she had caught that snitch against Gryffindor.

So many of her happy memories revolved around her friends.  Their trips to Hogsmeade with butterbeer in hand, their sunlit days by the lake, even that time Poe had convinced them to venture into the Forbidden Forest and they’d all been in detention for weeks.

Many of those had happened months or years before.  Rey cast her mind about for something more recent. These days had been dark: curses at Hogwarts, the Death Eaters featuring on the front page of the Daily Prophet, strife between her closest friends.

Unbidden, the image of Ben Solo with that huge toothy grin on his face swam before her closed eyes.  It carried some nameless feeling…something like happiness, but calmer and more jittery at the same time.  It didn’t make sense to her. Different than arriving at Hogwarts, different than those times spent with her friends, yet somehow related…like a distant cousin.  She also couldn’t explain why the night she drank too much firewhisky and ended up crying out her problems to Ben Solo made her happy. But it did, so she added it to the list.

For countless minutes, she practiced letting those feelings spread all the way through her, from head to toe.  

“I hope you have identified some of your happiest memories and practiced letting them fill you up,” Professor Organa said, her soft voice breaking Rey’s concentration.  She opened her eyes to see many of her classmates blinking as if emerging from a fog. “It may seem easy now, but I assure you, it is much more difficult when faced with a real Dementor.”

“It can also be helpful,” Professor Kanata picked up.  “To recognize within yourself what dark memories a Dementor will bring to the surface, so that you are ready to deal with them if the time comes.”

“Does anyone remember why this is so important?” Professor Organa asked, never one to miss a review opportunity.  

This time, when Rey raised her hand, Professor Organa called on her.  “Dementors drain hope and happiness from their victims, leaving behind only the darkest, most desperate moments.  The Patronus is the physical embodiment of hopeful feelings and can drive the Dementor away, but the caster needs to resist the creature’s effects first.”

“Excellent, Ms. Niima, one point to Hufflepuff,” Professor Organa said.  “It is often our worst memories that are forced to the surface when we are faced with a Dementor.  The sudden emergence of these memories is easier to resist if we expect them and recognize what memories may occur.  Close your eyes and consider what those might be for you. We will not dwell on them long, but it is important to recognize and catalogue even these memories.”

Rey had too many to consider in one sitting.  They were difficult to keep at bay even in some of the best times.  Her memories of being left on the doorstep of a church by her parents definitely ranked.  This part of the class was perhaps easier for her than others. She had spent her whole life dealing with these memories and knew how to keep them at bay, so they didn’t suck her down into the pits of despair.

They finished class with several more minutes spent meditating on their happiest memories to end on a high note.  Rey gathered her things again and tucked her wand behind her ear as they prepared to leave.

“Remember to practice meditating on your good memories for at least fifteen minutes tonight, twice if you can manage it.  The goal this week is to make the recall of your happiest memories and feelings instantaneous, so you can call it up right away whenever you need to conjure your Patronus,” Professor Organa called as they began to leave the room.  “Bon voyage, students! See you tomorrow!”

“That was not at all what I expected,” Rose said as they left the classroom.  “What did you think of?”

Rey shrugged, chasing off the thought of Solo and his laugh.  Why had she thought of that at all? “You know, arriving to Hogwarts, playing Quidditch, friends.”  She knocked Rose’s shoulder with her own and the girl grinned. “You?”

“About the same, minus the Quidditch.  Vacations with family and time with Paige.  It’s curious, you know? I kind of what to know what everyone else thought of now,” Rose answered.

As they left the classroom, Rey found herself staring at Solo’s broad back, wondering what happy memories he’d thought of.  She hated herself for wondering if she might rank among them, even once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Thank you for reading and for your patience whenever I've been a little late to post. I'm traveling this week, so I cannot guarantee a post on Wednesday, since I'll be flying in that night, but I CAN promise a post on Thursday, if not Wednesday. So, I'll see you then, maybe the same time, but definitely the same place!


	25. Seven for a secret never to be told

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe may or may not hex Ben off his broom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient with me! Here's the chapter as promised! Normal posting resumes on Saturday :)

The sun went down early now that November had arrived in full force.  Rey stepped outside just after dinner with her broom thrown over one shoulder and double-layered sweaters keeping her warm, but the sun had already disappeared beneath the horizon.  The stars began blinking to life in the expanse of sky above her.  

Poe, Finn, and Rose pushed through the door behind her and shattered the peace of the night.  Finn fell back beside her and let Rose and Poe walk down the hill towards the pitch together. Rey smiled up at her friend, grateful that he had joined them after an uncharacteristically long time away.

“D’you think he’ll actually show?” Finn asked her quietly.  “Solo, I mean.”

“Of course, he will,” she answered, shaking her head at him and these constant questions.  “I checked with him in Herbology anyway, and he said he would.”

Technically, she had caught him in Herbology to tell him that Poe had come around to the idea of him playing with them.  She had no doubts about Ben showing up for the match.

“I can’t believe you convinced him,” Finn said.  “How did you do it?”

“Merlin, I’ve been asked that so many times this week.  I didn’t really have to convince him, other than to say that Poe wouldn’t hex him off his broom as long as he helped us win some matches.”

She could feel Finn’s eyes on her.  “You don’t complain about him as much as you used to,” he observed.  Rey flushed under his gaze.

“Maybe he’s given me less to complain about,” she muttered.

His surprise radiated from him in waves.  “You spend more time with him now.”

“True,” she said with a shrug.  “And we had to get used to working together.  It’s not that odd. It’s not like we’re best friends or anything.”

“It’s still a total reverse.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“Rey,” Finn said, leveling her with one of his direct looks that no one could avoid.  “If I had told you this time last year that you could even stand to be in the same  _ room _ as Solo, nevertheless chummy with him, what would you have said?”

She burst out laughing.  “Okay, fine, point taken.  But I don’t think it’s  _ that _ odd.  When you’re forced to spend time with someone, you have to learn more about them, and maybe you learn to get along a little more.”  Rey didn’t plan to tell him exactly how well they worked together or that she had spent some time with Solo outside of their rounds.

Finn raised an eyebrow.  “I find it highly unlikely that I could find something to like about Solo even if I spent a year with him.”

_ Maybe he would surprise you _ , Rey thought, but she did not speak those words aloud.  It was enough to convince Finn that she could tolerate Solo’s presence.  If she told him that they had become  _ friends _ of a sort…well, he would probably check her for signs of enchantment.

Instead, she turned the conversation down another avenue.  “Have you spoken to Poe yet? He’s been asking.”

Finn nodded slowly.  “He cornered me in our room before we came out.”

“And?”

He shrugged.  “He demanded to know why I’d been avoiding him since Sunday.”

That hadn’t exactly been the tactic she’d suggested he take.  “Well, he’s not known for his tact. What did you tell him?”

“That it had nothing to do with him.  That one of the Slytherins had delivered another lovely message from my mother.”  Rey glanced up to the scar on her friend’s forehead. They never talked about it or how he’d gotten it.  “He wanted to get into a fistfight with them, but I didn’t say who.”

“Did that actually happen?”

“Yes, but I said it mostly to distract Poe.  It seems to have worked.”

Rey thought carefully before she said, “you should tell him, Finn.”

His shoulders stiffened at her words.  When he spoke again, his voice came out half-strangled.  “I can’t, Rey. I can’t…I can’t lose someone else. I’ve lost my family and almost everyone I knew growing up.  I can’t lose Poe too.”

Her hand found his and she gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “You won’t. Poe cares for you too fiercely for you to ever lose him.”

Finn shook his head.  “It doesn’t matter how much Poe cares about me.  He’s straight as an arrow. It doesn’t matter.”

Rey privately thought that if Poe was as straight as an arrow, she’d let him hex her with whatever combination of curses he could come up with.  She did not voice this thought either, though, because at that moment they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch where Poe and Rose stood waiting for them.  Both wore a sort of frown, although Rose looked better than Rey had seen her look all week and could finally look Finn in the eye instead of scampering away.  Poe, however, looked between them with wide eyes, as if trying to parse something out. Rey almost audibly sighed. Could her friends avoid falling in love with each other long enough to win a Quidditch match?

But then, a wide figure in a green sweater appeared at the other side of the pitch and she realized that she might not be so very innocent.  Poe turned his confused gaze away from them to glower at their new Keeper.

“Playing together, fine,” he muttered.  “But I don’t have to talk to him.” With one final glance between them, Poe mounted his broom and took to the air.  Finn nodded to Rose before he did the same.

“I’ll be in the stands,” Rose said, dropping her eyes to the grass.  Rey squeezed her friend’s arm as she passed.  

Rey took off on her broom, but she did not fly high to circle the pitch as her friends did.  Instead, she flew until she hung in the air over Solo, who stood with his own broom. She hadn’t noticed before that he also flew a Millennium series, but his was a model newer than hers.

“Nice broom,” she said, eyeing it over his shoulder.  Then, she grinned. “Too bad I’m still faster.”

“Yeah?”  He crooked an eyebrow at her.  “We’ll see about that, Niima.”

“Just a fact, Solo.  You Keepers are too heavy to go that fast.  You’re no exception, all that muscle you’ve got there,” she shot back.

He smirked.  “You think I’m muscular, Niima?”

She rolled her eyes but felt her cheeks tinge pink.  “Poe’s refusing to talk to you, but he’s alright with you playing.”

The smirk still hadn’t dropped from his mouth.  “Is he? Maybe I should make him say something nice to me as a condition of me playing.  What would he do? You can’t find another Keeper in fifteen minutes.”

“Play nice, Solo.”

“I’m never nice, Niima.”

She took off into the air again, leaving him to mount his broom at his leisure and get to their hoops.  Finn and Poe had already found a Quaffle somewhere. She joined them, tossing the ball between them lazily.  The other team started arriving and a few students trickled into the stands to join Rose’s solitary figure.  

“Niima!”  She heard the yell from below and turned her broom towards the ground.  Hannah didn’t let her make it that far. She jumped on her own broom and met her halfway.  “Is that Solo I see in the hoops?” Rey nodded. “Since when do they have  _ Solo _ ?  He’s the bloody best Keeper in the league.”

Paige, curious, joined them.  “No, he’s  _ our _ Keeper, Hannah, not theirs.”

Hannah’s eyebrows shot up on her forehead.  “Since when is Solo our Keeper?”

“Since Saturday when Sarkeesian broke his arm.”

“Fair point,” Paige interjected.

“Right, okay, but who convinced Solo to play for us?  What did Poe have to give up for that to happen? Did he let him hex him?  Wait, someone checked to see if Poe was under the  _ Imperius _ curse, right?” Hannah demanded.

Rey rolled her eyes.  How many more times would she have to listen to this line of questioning.  “I promise, Poe is not under  _ Imperius _ .  Actually, I convinced Solo to join our team, not Poe.  Poe took a lot of convincing, trust me. Is that going to be a problem?”

Hannah thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.  “I bet that’s one hell of a story, but no. No problem here. As long as we have a functioning Keeper, I’m set.  And Solo is more than a functioning Keeper.”

Hannah flew off to retrieve their Beaters bats.  Paige winked. “I told you that you could handle him.  Even I didn’t expect you to get him and Poe to coexist without hexing each other.”

“Night’s not over yet.”

The Impossible Six had arrived and gathered at the other end of the pitch.  By that time, students had crowded into the stands to see one of the most anticipated IHL match of the season.  If they won this one, it would catapult them to second in the league, just behind Rogue One. Rey could see Jyn and Cassian in the stands, pointing down the pitch to where Solo hovered before the hoops.  

Professor Antilles joined them on the field and motioned for the teams to form up at the center.  On class days, they all tried to pretend that the professors didn’t know about their illicit league, but Wedge Antilles wasn’t  _ really _ a professor and he fully supported Quidditch in any form.  Besides, someone had to make sure they kept things safe. Rey pulled up at the center and took her place beside Poe and Finn.  It felt odd to be there instead of poised to take off into the air as soon as the whistle blew to search for the snitch.  

She shot a glare at Gaskell, who tried very hard to get her attention.  Although, she thought, perhaps she should thank him. Poe would not lose to their team and that was probably the only reason why he’d allowed Solo to join them.  Speaking of Solo, she felt him fall in beside her.

“Stay inside the pitch,” Antilles warned them.  She had no plans to go flying off somewhere outside the pitch.  He blew the whistle and threw the Quaffle and the game began.

Ben left her side immediately, flying as fast as possible to the hoops at their end of the field.  Hannah and Paige broke off too as the Bludgers came hurling out of the official box. But Rey barely noticed any of that because she had fallen into the fight to wrangle the Quaffle from the other team.  Poe and Finn fell back, leaving her to either get the Quaffle or not. She did, elbowing Gaskell in the face in the process. He reached for it again, but she threw it to Finn and ducked out of his reach.

The game began in earnest.  She, Poe, and Finn wove through the other Chasers, passing only when necessary as they made their way towards the opposing team’s Keeper.  Poe’s shot went wide. He cursed colorfully.  

One of Gaskell’s teammates recovered the Quaffle and rushed towards the other end of the field.  Poe and Finn had not fallen back quickly enough, and the other team outpaced them. Rey held her breath as two Chasers came up against Solo by himself.  But he easily and almost lazily saved the shot they took. He tossed the Quaffle back to Rey with a grin.

Finn scored the first goal, a beautiful shot through the right hoop that the Keeper missed completely.  After that, the score climbed steadily in favor of Rey and their team. They called the game after an hour and a half.  To her utter surprise, Solo did not miss a single shot. A. Single. Shot. She had known that he was good. But, Merlin, he was incredible.

When they landed at the end of the match, even Poe had to admit that Ben’s performance had been more than just adequate.  Rey dropped down next to where Ben had landed beneath the shadow of the hoops.

“That was incredible!” she told him before her feet had even touched the ground.  She could barely tell in the dark, but she thought his ears had turned red. He just shrugged.

“Sloppy shots.  No wonder you rejected Gaskell for your team.”

Poe landed beside them, looking like he would rather be anywhere instead of there, within five feet of Ben Solo.  “Well, thanks, Solo,” he muttered, looking above his head, at the ground, anywhere besides right at him. “That was…decent.”

Solo snorted.  “Yeah, alright, Dameron.  Don’t worry, I don’t want to talk to you any more than necessary.  Going to replace me as Keeper?”

“No,” Poe muttered.  “You can stay on. But only because I want to see Jyn’s face when she can’t score a single thing.”

“I’m in.”

Poe gave him a jerky nod, and Ben turned to trudge up to the castle on his own.  Rey wanted to catch up with him, but she thought she had tested her friends’ understanding enough for one night.

“You didn’t do him justice,” Finn said as Ben disappeared from the Quidditch pitch.  “That was fucking amazing. I’ve never seen Gaskell look so angry.”

Poe muttered something about  _ bloody Solo _ and  _ keeping his nose out of our business _ before he too headed for the castle, long enough after Solo to prevent any chance of running into him on the way.

Rey linked arms with Rose and followed Poe and Finn up to the shadow of the castle looming against the night sky.

 

As usual, she left the common room on Thursday night at precisely 9:45.  It had become a ritual with them. She always left the common room fifteen minutes early, even though Ben had never once been late, and they didn’t have to start rounds until ten.  But that night, something was different.  

Ben wasn’t there.

Rey stopped in her tracks just outside the door to the Hufflepuff common room and nearly caused a fifth-year to collide with her.  Ben had never been late, and he had  _ never _ missed their rounds.  Where could he be? Her mind filtered through a hundred possibilities at once.  Something must have happened to him. Had he left the castle? She chastised herself for letting her mind wander  _ that _ far.  Surely, he’d just fallen asleep in his common room and hadn’t woken up on time.  Perhaps he’d had Quidditch practice and it had gone late. Perhaps he had…

Walked down the hall towards her, ten minutes passed his usual time.

As he drew near, she could see the deep purple circles beneath his eyes and the weary slope of his shoulders.  His face had paled noticeably. Had it been like that last night without her noticing? He looked as if he hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in a week, nor a proper meal.

“Sorry,” he muttered when he reached her.  Just then, the bells tolled overhead to signal the start of their rounds.

“Are you okay, Ben?”

“Yeah,” he said, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes.  “Let’s go.”

It first occurred to her that perhaps she had pushed him too hard.  Maybe he had not wanted to join their IQL team at all and the game the night before had confirmed his distaste for it.  Or maybe Poe had found time to say something nasty to him, although she found it unlikely that she wouldn’t have heard about it from him or someone else.

“Is it Poe?” she asked from a step behind him as she tried to keep up with his breakneck pace.  He flicked his wand and sent one of the classroom doors banging open on its hinges. She winced at the sound.  “Did he say something to you? I know he’s not exactly decent but…”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Dameron thinks,” Ben snapped.  Rey closed her mouth with an audible  _ click _ .

“I thought you wanted to play Quidditch with us,” she tried again.  “But if you don’t…”

“It’s got nothing to do with Quidditch either.  Merlin, Rey, this has nothing to do with you at all,” he rounded on her, his eyes burning.  She took an automatic step back and something like guilt crossed his face. “I’m sorry,” he said again, his voice softer.  “It’s just been a rotten day.”

She felt the full force of her guilt in her stomach like a bag of bricks.  He’d just had a bad day and she’d gone on interrogating him trying to absolve herself of blame.  “I’m sorry, Ben.” She reached out to him, laying a hand on his arm. He didn’t shy away from her but stared down at the place where her hand met the fabric of his shirt.  “I didn’t mean that. You just worried me is all. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. But I’ll listen if you want to.”

His lips worked as if he had something to say, but no words came out.  Instead, he gave her a single, stiff nod and turned back to the corridor.  But when they resumed their rounds, his pace felt less punishing.  

She walked in silence.  He made no move to break it.  And she decided that she would be alright if he did not.  They were…friends of a sort, though she still couldn’t quite believe it.  It would be enough just to be there for him.

They had neared the end of their path and the point where they would break off to return to their own common rooms at the stairs before he spoke again.  “Bad things are coming,” he said in a quiet voice, half to himself. “Terrible things are coming and I’m starting to think I’m on the wrong side of them.”

Her blood stood as ice in her veins.  Rey fought the urge to yank him to a standstill and demand an explanation, to wrench up the sleeve of his jumper to see for herself whether he already wore the Dark Mark.  What he’d said rang true – half of it anyway. They could all feel the dark days ahead. Snoke and his followers had become braver, had made the headlines of the Prophet more often, and had stopped hiding their movements.

But Ben…her mind reeled.  Surely, he hadn’t  _ joined _ them.  How could he?  Would Snoke even accept a sixteen-year-old into his elite club?  And how would she feel about that? Rey shook her head and tried to return to the matter at hand.  She could debate all of that with herself in a few moments in her darkened chambers. But now…now, Ben stared down at her with wide, fearful eyes.

So, instead of voicing any of her misgivings, she laid a hand on his arm.  “It’s never too late to change your mind, Ben.”

“What if it is?”

“It isn’t.  It isn’t too late.”

He looked at her again, his eyes dark pools of dread.  She saw herself reflected in them. “One day it will be,” he said quietly.  “One day I will have crossed a line that I cannot come back from. What will I do then?”

Rey said the first thing that popped into her head.  “Ask for forgiveness.”

“I think you’re the only person who has ever forgiven me.”

“I will then too,” she said.  “But it’ll come easier if you turn back before that point.”

“I don’t know if I can,” he confessed.

But he said no more.  He bid her goodnight and descended the stairs to the Slytherin common room.

And left Rey with the feeling that she knew exactly what trouble Ben Solo had gotten himself into this time.


	26. Expecto Patronum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sixth years begin learning to cast a Patronus. Jealousy ensues.

November faded.  On the last Sunday of the month, Hufflepuff won its first Quidditch match of the season after Rey caught the snitch in under half an hour.  Poe got drunk on Firewhisky that night and instead of snogging Jessika, he sat in an armchair and sulked. Finn had rounds at the castle while the rest of them went to Hogsmeade.  Poe bought more Firewhisky. Jyn sulked about their new keeper. Hogwarts woke the first weekend of December to find itself covered in a fresh fall of snow. Someone enchanted three snowmen to follow Chewie around.  Three more Muggle families fell to Snoke’s Death Eaters.

The snow melted on Monday, but everyone went to classes with a fresh excitement.  None more so than the sixth years headed to DADA. For the last week, they had been working away at casting the Patronus Charm itself.  After weeks of meditating and dwelling on their happy memories until they could each call up one at the drop of a hat, they had progressed to their first sloppy attempts to conjure their magical guardian.  So far, not a single one of them had been successful, although Eliza had gotten a wisp of white one day from the end of her wand (for which Hufflepuff received five points).

Rey had spent many hours outside of class practicing as well, in addition to her silent spells, which Professor Holdo had warned them needed to be rehearsed every day until one did not need to think about it at all.  She nearly skipped to Defense class. Rose too bubbled over with energy and even Finn, who had been unusually solemn for the last few weeks, perked up. The only one who did not, which surprised her to no end, was Poe.  He trudged next to them and stared at his shoes.

“I want to know what my Patronus will be,” Rey said yet again, hoping to draw him out with that common discussion.  It had no effect and she frowned.

“So do I,” Rose chimed in.  “I hope it’s something pretty.  Or at least cool. Wouldn’t it be terrible to get a slug or something?”

“Agreed,” Finn said.  “Or, I don’t know, a snake.  Imagine being a Slytherin at heart.”

“Having a snake Patronus does not make you a Slytherin,” Rey reminded him.  “That’s not how it works. Anyway, no one gets to  _ pick _ their Patronus…at least, no one we’d want to talk to.  That story about Herbert the Horrible was downright creepy.”

“What do you want your Patronus to be, Poe?” Rose asked him.  So, she had also noticed how silent he’d been.

He seemed to shake himself and come out of a stupor.  “A lion.”

“Like any good Gryffindor.”  Rey rolled her eyes. “Come on, be more creative.”

Poe had returned to himself enough to look mildly offended.  “Who  _ wouldn’t _ want a lion as their Patronus?  It’s the best there is!”

This time, Rose rolled her eyes.  “Didn’t you hear what Rey just said?  Getting a house sigil as your Patronus doesn’t mean you belong in that house.  Getting a lion isn’t going to prove you’re the best Gryffindor or something.”

Poe just shrugged.  “It wouldn’t hurt.”

Finn cursed and checked his bag.  “Rey, did you bring your Patronus guide?” he asked urgently.  “I forgot mine. What if I manage to cast it today and I can’t even find out what it is or what it means?”

“I’ve got mine,” Rey answered, finding it quickly in her bag and holding it up for him to see.  “Rose does too. Don’t worry, between the four of us we have enough to go around. Besides, I doubt any of us will manage to cast one today.  No one has so far.”

They entered the classroom, which had resumed its usual appearance with the desks pushed up against the far walls.  But this time, there were no cushions for meditating or hundreds of suspended candles. They joined the small crowd of students already gathered in the room.  Across their heads, she spotted Solo and Phasma with their heads bent together. Ben still looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. He always looked like that now.  Their eyes met briefly, but he looked away from her and down at the floor again.

The class gathered with an anxious buzz.  Rey felt a swoop in her chest at the lift in mood.  Today would be the day. She would finally cast  _ something _ today.  Perhaps not a full-blown Patronus but at least a wisp of something.  They took up their positions throughout the room with enough space to cast.  Professor Organa walked around the room, giving pointers here and there, rare praises to those who managed something.  Even though many of her students had grown taller than her, Rey could always tell where she stood.

She started the class by re-centering herself, taking deep breaths and recalling one of her most powerful happy memories, until it filled her from head to toe.  Only then did she lift her wand and call out the incantation. Nothing happened. Rey frowned at her wand. What more did she need to do to conjure a Patronus?

“You’re nearly there,” Professor Organa said from behind her.  Rey started and turned to see the woman peering over her half-moon glasses with a smile.  “I can tell. But you’ll never be able to cast a Patronus if you don’t believe you can. It requires a certain amount of humility – an understanding of your limitations – but a certain confidence as well.  You must be connected to yourself.”

Rey wasn’t sure she understood what Professor Organa meant, but she nodded anyway.  She lifted her wand to try again, but before she could, several others gasped. She turned to see an enormous white shape, like a funnel or a tornado, sprouting from a wand.  She moved to get a better look and saw that Rose had managed an incorporeal Patronus. Her friend looked as surprised as everyone else.

“Oh, well done, Ms. Tico!  Brilliant! Ten points to Hufflepuff,” Professor Organa called.  Rose beamed as her Patronus faded to nothing.  

Rose’s success seemed to boost the general confidence in the room.  In quick succession, several other students cast their first wisps of white, some of them barely a breath, some full incorporeal Patronuses like Rose’s.  Sarah Flint, a Slytherin, came next. And then Eliza, to no one’s surprise, since she had been the first to achieve anything at all. Poe had gone red in the face with the effort he put into casting his charm but to no avail.

Rey lifted her wand again, hope in her eyes, but only managed a little wisp of silver.  Not enough to drive away even the weakest of Dementors.

As class ticked towards its ending, Rey grew frustrated with herself.  There must be something wrong with her, if she couldn’t cast one now, after so many others had.  Perhaps her memories simply weren’t strong enough. Or Professor Organa was right, and she didn’t believe that she could.  With a huff, she lowered her wand again. She wouldn’t get anywhere with such frustration.

She would take a break, Rey decided.  She would take a break and try to rid herself of this frustration and then try again.  Rey took her mind back to her happy memories. Yes, surely, they were strong enough. She could feel them fill her from head to toe, practically hear her friends’ laughter in the room with her.  But once the kernel of doubt had been planted, it could not be dislodged. Maybe she would never cast a Patronus. She would try and try and try and nothing would happen.

Maybe she couldn’t cast one because she wasn’t a real witch.

The thought hit her like a sucker punch.  She tried not to remember Ben and his sneers of mudblood.  That was in the past. He didn’t think of her like that anymore.  Anyway, what did it matter what he thought or what anyone thought?  But still, Rey hadn’t been able to conjure a Patronus so far. Who could say if she could at all?

_ No _ .  The denial came from inside of her, deep down.   _ No, I will not fail _ .  She had cast every other spell she’d come up against.  She had achieved everything she’d set her mind to. It didn’t matter what Krennic and Hux sneered at her in the hallways.  It didn’t matter that she had grown up in a Muggle home and only discovered this wonderful world when she turned eleven. It didn’t matter.

Dark things were coming, and she would meet them.

She raised her wand, screwed her eyes shut, and called, “ _ Expecto Patronum! _ ”  No hesitation.  Not a request. A demand.  A declaration.

Rey felt it the moment her Patronus exploded from the end of her wand.  If she doubted it at all, the gasps around her confirmed it. For a long moment, she didn’t dare open her eyes, for fear it wouldn’t be there at all.

“Merlin,” Poe said somewhere close by.  “Rey!”

Only then did she open her eyes, first just to squint, and then to take in the bright silvery shape that soared around the room.  

Over the past few weeks, she had given some thought to what her Patronus would be and engaged in more discussions with her friends on the subject.  Rose had hazarded a few guesses. Rey had come up with none at all. Even if she had, she could not have guessed it would be this. Her mouth dropped open. 

A horse-like figure galloped around the room, dousing every corner in warm, silver light.  Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Rose diving for her school bag and producing the Patronus guide.  Her friend rifled through it. Rey had just enough of her mind left over to hope she figured out what her Patronus was.  The horse galloped over the gaping students on the classroom floor.

It was only when it stopped in front of her again that she realized her Patronus was not a horse at all.  On top of its head shone a single, brilliant horn. Rey had never considered the possibility that she would have a unicorn as a Patronus.  It didn’t seem right for her. Eliza, maybe, but not her. But as she stared at the silver guardian, it lowered its head to her in a mock bow before it vanished.

The class stared at her.  She felt as if she’d just had part of her soul ripped out and revealed to them.  Even Professor Organa seemed surprised.

“Well done, Ms. Niima!” she said at last.  “Twenty points to Hufflepuff! Keep going, everyone, and we might get a second Patronus before the day is out.”

The students resumed casting with a vengeance.  Rey stood in the middle of it all with her wand lowered.  She still had not wrapped her head around what she’d just witnessed.

“I’ve never seen a unicorn Patronus in person,” Professor Organa said, coming up to her.  “That was excellent, Rey. Truly excellent.” She beamed at her mentor’s praise. “It’s rare to have a magical creature as a Patronus, even more so to have a unicorn.  You should be very proud.”

One other person did achieve their Patronus that day.  To her surprise, it was not one of the ones who had conjured a non-corporeal earlier.  It was Finn. Barely four minutes before the end of class, he screwed up his face and produced a stunning silver figure.  It exploded from his wand and across the room. Smaller than hers, it took her a long moment of squinting to figure out what it was.  Rose discovered it first, folding back the Patronus Guide.

“A fire-dwelling salamander,” she announced.

Finn turned to her.  “A  _ what _ ?”

“Fire-dwelling salamander,” she repeated.  Only a few people seemed to recognize it. Just then, the bell rang signaling the end of class.

For once, all four of them made the walk to lunch together.  Poe and Finn seemed to have forgotten their awkwardness in the moment of celebration.  Poe didn’t even look upset that he hadn’t been able to produce even a whiff. He threw his arm around Rey.

“Brilliant Patronus.  Although, I have to say, a  _ unicorn _ .  It’s very posh, isn’t it?”

“Well, I didn’t pick it,” Rey protested.  She knew she shouldn’t have been, but she was just ever so slightly disappointed.  She’d been hoping for a dragon.

“Better than a fire-dwelling salamander.  I practically have a  _ frog _ for a Patronus!” Finn groaned, covering his face with his hands.

“It could have been worse,” Rose pointed out, still holding her Patronus Guide.  “It could have been a snake.” Both Finn and Poe acknowledged the truth of that. “Anyway, I think it’s neat.  It’s an interesting one.”

“Interesting is code for boring,” Poe said and then backtracked at once, turning three shades of red.  “I mean, not in the case of your Patronus. Just in general. But not now. A salamander is definitely not boring.”

Finn just rolled his eyes and ignored Poe’s blabbering.

“I can’t wait until  _ I _ cast a Patronus,” Rose said with a sigh.  “I want to see what mine will be now, especially after you did.”

“You will soon, Rosie,” Rey said, patting her shoulder.  “You were brilliant. You had the first one out of everyone.”

“Yeah, but not a corporeal one.”  Rose frowned.

“Still, the first one out of everyone.  A non-corporeal Patronus will still ward off a Dementor.  Those bloody things don’t need to see what cool animal you’ve got,” Finn reminded her.  She looked moderately happier at that.

“Yeah and you have plenty of time,” Rey added.  “Hey, none of you are staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, are you?”

Rose shook her head, not to Rey’s surprise.  She and Paige always went home to celebrate with their enormous extended family and sent Rey loads of sweets and presents no matter where she stayed.  The few times she’d returned to the orphanage for the holidays, the influx of owls had been difficult to hide.  

Finn glanced at Poe, who suddenly became very interested in the ground.  “I think we’re still going to Poe’s parents. Poe’s mum asked me at the end of summer,” Finn said.  “Is that right, Poe?”

He nodded but didn’t look up from the ground.  Rey chose to ignore his odd behavior for the moment.  “Grand. Sign-ups for staying at Hogwarts are going up this week.”

Rose’s head snapped up.  “What are you going to do, Rey?”

She shrugged.  “Stay here, I think, same as usual.”

“You’re always welcome to come home with us,” Rose offered.  Poe seconded that a moment later. They offered every year. Rey didn’t know why she never accepted either option.  For some reason, the idea of spending Christmas with a family that wasn’t her own, no matter how welcoming they were, always made her feel like an outsider.  

Besides, she  _ liked _ Hogwarts during the holidays.  So few students stayed. She’d have tea with Professor Kenobi and maybe a few dueling lessons and she’d go to visit Chewie in his hut, and she might even take a walk down to Hogsmeade.  No one bothered her and the library was always quiet. She flew her broom in peace and went where she wished. It was nice. Homey.

“Thank you,” she said warmly.  “That’s sweet of you, but I think I really will just stay here.  It’s nice, you know. Besides, Christmas dinner is always the best at Hogwarts.  You don’t know what you’re missing.”

They accepted her answer without protest.  After all, she had said the same thing for the last several years and remained at Hogwarts.  She was glad that Finn still planned to go home with Poe for the holidays. He would grow melancholy if he stayed at Hogwarts.

That night, she was the first to sign the list in the common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any errors in today's chapter! I've been working straight since I got back from my trip and haven't had the time to edit fully. I probably will do that sometime early this week. Enjoy!


	27. A White Knight in...Slytherin Robes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, there are still seven minutes of Wednesday left where I am! So, technically, I'm still on schedule :)   
> If my energy level holds, I'm planning on answering my backload of comments tonight. Thank you all!

Four others in their DADA class achieved their Patronuses that week, but her two other friends were not among them.  Rose managed another non-corporeal Patronus and huffed in frustration, even though Professor Organa encouraged her that she was almost there.  Poe didn’t even get that much. Phasma and Ben, across the room from her cluster of friends, were also not having much luck. Rey’s attention, though, was taken up with comforting Rose in her frustration.  Still, as she donned her robes for rounds, she couldn’t help but wonder what was up with Ben Solo and why he’d been acting so weird. Maybe he’d be better tonight.

But Ben’s attitude had not changed by that evening, when they met for rounds.  If anything, he had gotten even grumpier. When she left her common room that night, he stood as usual against the wall scowling at the stone opposite.  Only she could see the difference in this scowl from the usual one he always wore.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked at once.

He blinked at her for a long moment, his scowl disappearing for the barest second, before he shook his head.  Rey accepted that. He would tell her in his own time, if he wanted to.

But she had no desire to spend their whole time in silence.  As the bells tolled overhead, Rey began chattering about Ancient Runes.  Ben started walking and did not immediately respond but tilted his head towards her.

“What did you think about the Runes this week?  I’m having some trouble with that one warding runic sequence.  I always mess up that one in the middle. I end up writing  _ kalc _ instead of  _ gar _ or  _ ac _ instead of  _ os _ .  It’s such a mess.  I’m hopeless with it.”

“You’ll get it next week.  I bet you wrote out those runes a hundred times and the sequence a hundred more,” he said, his voice a little lighter than before.

She grinned at him and was rewarded when the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.  “Yeah, I have. You got it already, though. I’m jealous. You brewed that potion the other day too and Tarkin actually  _ smiled _ .  He likes you Slytherins the best and everyone knows it.”

“But you cast your Patronus,” he answered, the scowl settling back onto his face again.

“You’ll get yours soon,” she reassured him, flicking her wand to check one of the classrooms and pulling her jumper closer around her.  “Plenty of others haven’t.” He didn’t say anything in response. “I bet you can tell me. Are we starting Amortentia next week?”

“Maybe,” he said.  “I heard Friday from some of the Slytherins.”

“This unit is so exciting,” she said, bouncing on her toes to check the next classroom.  “Patronuses and Amortentia and runic wards, all in two weeks. I’ve been dying to learn them.  I looked up Patronuses in the textbook earlier this semester, but I couldn’t make head or tail of the charm.  What do you think your Patronus will be? I mean, I know we can’t  _ really _ tell, but just give it a guess.”

Silence.  For a long moment, Rey thought Ben wouldn’t answer at all.  But, finally, he said, “I can’t cast a Patronus.”

Something in his voice made her stop and turn.  “What do you mean?”

He stopped too, facing her in the empty hallway.  Spots of color appeared high on his cheeks and he shoved his hands into his pockets, staring resolutely at the ground.  “I just can’t, okay?”

“We’ve only been at this for a couple of weeks, Ben,” Rey tried to comfort him.  “Just because you haven’t done it yet doesn’t mean you won’t  _ ever _ .  Plenty of people haven’t figured it out yet.”

“I know all of that,” he snapped, tapping his foot against the stone.  “I didn’t say I haven’t done it yet. I said I  _ can’t. _   I am not able to cast a Patronus.”

Rey took a couple of steps closer to him.  “What makes you think you can’t?”

He still had not looked up from the ground.  “I lack the necessary qualifications.”

The necessary qualifications?  He had magic, a wand, the incantation…oh.   _ Oh _ .  Hesitantly, she said, “the memories, Ben?”  He nodded once, jerkily. “I see.”

“What?” he snapped, finally chancing a glance up at her.

“It’s just…I think you probably can.”

He glowered at her.  “Really? What makes you qualified to see into my head?”

Rey laid a hand on his arm.  “Nothing, but I know you, Ben.  At least, I think I do, at least a little.  I know you’re one of the best wizards I know, and you can cast every spell, brew every potion, and write every rune.  So, I think you can do this too.”

His eyes bore into hers.  His arm had gone still under her hand.  For a moment, she worried that she had said the wrong thing.  “You really think that?” he asked softly.

“Of course, I do, Ben.  You are more than capable.  You just need more practice, that’s all.  It doesn’t really reflect how good you are at magic.  It’s something else,” she said.

His shoulders slumped, and he ran a hand over his face.  “I don’t know how. Will you, um, help?”

That took her aback, for several reasons.  One, her first instinct was to say that she was not the right person to ask.  But the alternative was the professor and that was not an option for him. She knew he would never ask his mother for help.  Two, Ben Solo had never asked anyone for help in his life, to her knowledge. She had begun to realize that there was a lot more to Ben Solo than she had seen before.

“Yes, of course, I will,” she answered.  “Perhaps we could meet in the evenings sometimes?  There are a few unused classrooms around the school that we could use to practice.”

He nodded, relief washing his face.  She offered him a small smile that she hoped looked reassuring.  “Saturday, then?”

“Saturday,” he said and even offered her a smile in return.  His shoulders relaxed too.  

They continued on their rounds and conversation flowed easier between them.  Rey marveled again that she could help orchestrate such a change in him in so short a time.  Had he really been so deprived of care before? Or did they just resonate on the same frequency?  She still had no answers to those questions.

Nor could she make head or tail of Poe and his ever-shifting behavior.  At breakfast on Friday morning, he seemed almost like himself, talking and buttering toast with revived animation.  But when she entered the dungeons for Potions just half an hour later, she found him slumped over his cauldron, decidedly  _ not  _ looking at Finn or anyone else in the room.  Finn, who had set his cauldron up beside a girl with blonde ringlets.

“Rose,” Rey said as they paused by the door to take stock of the remaining seats.  “Isn’t that Daisy Abbott Finn’s paired with?”

It took her friend all of five seconds to zero in on the blonde.  “It certainly is. Didn’t they go on that date earlier this year? I thought you said he was…you know.”

Rey nodded in answer to her unfinished question.  “I don’t know what’s going on…but Poe has a thundercloud brewing.  Alright,” she said, returning to the more immediate matter at hand.  “Which do you fancy? Poe and his stewing or the empty table at the back?”

Rose looked between them with wide eyes, much like she didn’t fancy either of them.  She stared at Rey in a bit of a panic. “I can’t do this potion on my own, Rey.”

She frowned.  “And neither can Poe.  Alright, you’ll have to deal with him for the next two hours.  I’ll take the empty seat.”

Rose gave her arm a grateful squeeze before hesitantly taking the stool beside Poe.  He didn’t even look up. From what Rey could see, he continued to study the wood grain of the table as if the answers to life, the universe, and everything were written there.  Finn looked around briefly to greet Rose and returned to his conversation with Daisy Abbott.  

For her part, Rey took stock of the present students and tried to figure who had decided to skive off – or would potentially be coming in late.  At first, she thought of Ben. But no, he stood behind his cauldron just in front of her with Phasma. Notably absent, however, was Hux. Until that very moment, when the redhead entered the room and stalked to the only empty cauldron…beside her.

“You must be  _ fucking _ kidding me,” he snarled in her general direction.  Rey fought the wince that threatened to expose her. “No way am I sharing air with a stinking  _ mudblood _ .  Get your own table, filthy tramp.”

“I could say the same to you,” she answered smoothly.  “Seeing as I was here first.”

Before he had a chance to respond, Tarkin called the students to order and, with a wave of his wand, put the instructions for the potion up on the board.  Grumbling still, Hux set his things down at his loathed seat and prepared to brew his potion.

“I’m not helping you sort out your shit, mudblood, so don’t even think about it.”

“Stuff a sock in that hideous hole in your face and leave me be.  I have higher marks in this class than you and we both know it.” Why, dear Merlin, why did she have to be stuck with the likes of  _ Hux _ first thing on a Friday morning?  The thundercloud that was Poe Dameron that morning suddenly seemed like the sunniest field around.  “Can’t you be civil for two hours? I won’t even talk to you.”

“Civil?  Sure,  _ mudblood _ , I’ll be civil to filth like you that doesn’t even belong at this school, much less in the Wizarding World.”  Rey tried very hard to ignore him and started brewing her potion according to the instructions on the board. Her hand shook as she added the first ingredient.  In front of her, she saw Ben’s shoulders stiffen, but he didn’t turn around. She remembered--vividly--a time when he had expressed a similar idea. “Would you even be here if Skywalker and Organa didn’t keep you as a pet?  You can’t even afford proper school things. I mean, just  _ look  _ at that cauldron.”

As long as he kept at her with his vitriol, Rey didn’t mind so much.  But then he knocked over a tray of jumping beans that she had just finished slicing for her potion.  Rey bent in frustration and tried to catch them all before they leapt out of her grasp.  

“Miss Niima, can you not manage to keep control of your ingredients?”

Tarkin barely glanced back at them.  She knew he had probably overheard and knew exactly who was to blame.  But there was no sense in arguing with Tarkin. “Sorry, sir,” she muttered.  Rey felt tears prick the back of her eyes. She would not cry. She would not give him the satisfaction of humiliating her.  She would not.

Another pair of hands joined hers on the floor.  She looked up into Solo’s drawn face as he helped her gather the jumping beans and add them to her potion.  “What’s gotten into you, Solo?” Hux sneered. “When did you become such a mudblood lover?”

“Just let her finish her potion, Hux,” Ben said without looking at her.  “There’s no point.”

“I’ll do whatever the hell I like,” Hux fired back.  “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Rey snapped, glaring daggers at Hux.  “Maybe he just has a shred of decency, something you lack entirely.”  She glanced back to Ben, who had fixed Hux with a steely gaze that would send a wiser man running.  “Thanks, Solo.” He gave her a stiff nod. She hoped, though, that he understood the depth of her appreciation, which she wouldn’t dare voice in front of Hux himself.

She turned back to her potion, adding the next ingredient.  Hux muttered a few more profanities and insults beside her, but she didn’t listen.  Every spare second she had, her eyes drifted to the broad back of Ben Solo in front of her.  Something clenched in her heart. He’d stood up for her and against Hux, one of his best friends.  He’d stood up for her.  

The next time Hux reached across the center line of the table to mess with her potion, he felt the point of her elbow drive down onto his hand.  With a yelp, he knocked his own slug sludge over and onto his robes. Tarkin did not say anything at all. Rey felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards.

At the end of the class, she received passable marks from Tarkin.  To her, that felt like victory with Hux trying to sabotage her the whole way.  His potion did not fare as well.  

“Stick to your own potion next time,” she couldn’t help but snarl at him as she headed for the door, where her friends waited for her.  They started up the stairs a few feet in front of her.  

Rey barely reached the first step when rough hands grabbed her and shoved her into the wall.  Her head slammed against the rough stone and her ears rang with the force of it. Someone had her by the back of the neck, forcing her cheek to scrape against the stone.  If she had any money, she would have bet that she could have guessed who in one try.

“How  _ dare _ you talk to me like that, mudblood?  You don’t deserve to be here,” Hux snarled far too close to her face for comfort.

“Oi!” she heard from the stairwell, where presumably Poe and Finn had just realized what was happening.  “Let her go, you bloody prick. I’ll hex your face off.”

“Go ahead and try, Dameron.  With the aim you have, fifty-fifty you hit her instead.”

No curse was forthcoming as Poe mulled over what he’d said.  Rey felt for her own wand and hoped that it had not been crushed by the impact.   _ I really should have seen this coming _ , she thought to herself.  Knowing Hux’s notorious temper, she should have been more prepared to meet his fury.  Then, she wouldn’t be shoved up against the wall.  

Before she or Poe or anyone else could fire a curse at him, however, the pressure suddenly lessened.  She turned to see Hux barely on his feet, his arm in the vise of Solo’s grip. He glared down at the red-haired weasel with unbridled fury.

“Haven’t you caused enough trouble today, Hux?” Solo growled at him, his voice low and dangerous.  Rey rubbed her sore face and readied her wand in case Hux made a second grab for her. Phasma stood behind them with her arms crossed over her chest.  Rey wasn’t sure which one she was supporting. She looked cross with both equally.

“What the hell has gotten into you, Solo?” Hux snarled and let out an undignified whimper when Ben twisted his arm a little harder.  “Since when do you defend mudbloods? Next you’ll be cuddling up with Dameron and his little blood traitor clique.”

“I would shut your mouth before you dig yourself a deeper hole,” Ben said, sounding almost bored.  He eyed her wand over Hux’s shoulder.

“Wait,” Hux said, even as he gasped in pain.  “I know what this is. You’re fucking her, aren’t you?  Is that what you run off to do every Thursday? You fuck the Hufflepuff bitch up against a wall somewhere?  Does she spread her legs for you every week or…”

He didn’t get to say more.  Rey shot a hex straight into his face.  He dropped to the ground and gripped his blistering face as more welts popped out across it.  Phasma drew her wand but didn’t fire off a curse. Ben just looked at him.

Rey squatted down beside Hux’s prone form.  “You should have heeded Solo’s advice and shut your mouth.  You know something, Hux? What I do in my personal time – and I really cannot emphasize this enough – is none of your goddamn business.  But keep talking. I like practicing my hexes.”

His only response was a strangled sob.

Rey stood and dusted off her robes.  Ben’s unreadable eyes slid back to her.  “Nice shot.”

She nodded to him and marched up the stairs to her friends.  Poe stared down the stairs at Ben as if he hadn’t made up his mind whether or not to hex him too for good measure.  Before he could make that decision, Rey turned him forcibly and started towards the Great Hall.

With a small smile on her face, she went to lunch.


	28. I have loved the stars too fondly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe finally opens up about what's been going on in his head all these weeks. And Ben finally opens up about his inability to cast a Patronus. Rey has a lot to sort out between the two of them.

The sky grew dark early that night as they lounged in the Gryffindor common room.  Rey sat with a book in her lap and her legs thrown over the arm of her chair. Finn sat halfway across the spacious room carrying on a conversation with Bodhi and Daisy Abbott.  Rose had wandered off an hour earlier to join a game of Gobstones with Jyn, Cassian, and Kay Esso. By the look of it, Jyn had gotten several stones’ worth of stink sprayed in her face and was fuming over her losses.  Poe sat a chair away with nothing to occupy himself but staring out the window with a blank look on his face.

Rey cracked her neck and went back to her reading.  It was a muggle book Eliza had leant her earlier that term that she had been working her way through in spurts.  To be honest, she wasn’t much of a reader. She preferred to be up and busy. But it was a good night for reading, with the fire crackling just across the room and a lovely, warm heat hanging over the students.  Plus, the chairs in the Gryffindor common room were awfully comfortable. And it wasn’t like Poe was much company.

He startled her out of her reading by suddenly standing up from his armchair and marching over to hers.  “Let’s go flying.”

“Now?”  She glanced out the window but could see nothing.  “Seriously? It’s dark as pitch out there, Poe.”

Something like desperation crossed his face.  “Please. I just want to get out for a bit.”

She was tempted to tell him that he could go fly by himself, if he really wanted to that much, but such panic sat in his eyes and his hands clutched at nothing.  “Alright,” she agreed, placing a bookmark in the book that would be left unfinished for another night. “Just let me get my broom and change. I’ll meet you downstairs in ten?”

As she hurried down the stairs to her own common room, Rey cursed herself for being such a good friend.  Couldn’t she leave everyone well alone for just one night? But, she reasoned, if Poe needed her, Poe needed her.  There was nothing to be done about it but go.

As promised, she met him by the enormous entry doors ten minutes later, her old Quidditch things on, two jumpers to keep warm, and a scarf wound tight around her neck.  As soon as they pushed through the doors, she wanted to curse Poe and turn back. A bitter wind blew across the grounds, carrying with it a few stray snowflakes. They could have a full snowfall soon.  Yet Poe continued on, his shoulders set, and so Rey followed.

They took to the air, the bitter chill whipping against her face.  Her mittened hands tried and failed to pull her hat a little farther down on her ears, but she could barely feel her face still.  They made several laps around the towers, banking close to the shingles of the roofs. Poe steered them towards the Quidditch pitch and made a few lazy circles of that as well.  He flew differently than he usually did – no daring dives or hairpin turns or even barrel rolls. He just flew straight, as if towards an unknown destination.  

Poe finally landed in the Ravenclaw seats beside the pitch.  He tossed his broom down to land wherever it would and that, she thought, was the most worrying thing of all.  Poe never treated his broom like anything less than gold. But now, he slumped down on one of the benches, high up out of the wind, and buried his head in his hands.

Rey sensed that this really was why they had come out flying on a horrendous night.  She set her own broom down with care and sat beside him, placing a frozen yet hopefully comforting hand on his shoulder.  He shivered, whether from cold or something else, she couldn’t tell.  

“I think,” he said at last.  “I’ve made a dreadful mistake, Rey.”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” she said.  She almost added a crack about how many mistakes he made on a given day, but it didn’t feel right just then.

When he looked up at her, red rimmed his eyes.  “Finn won’t talk to me. He’ll barely  _ look  _ at me.  I think I’ve ruined everything.”

“I thought you two were talking again.”

He gave a miserable shake of his head.  “Not really. Not like we used to. He’ll make small talk with me in groups and around our friends, but as soon as we get back to the room…nothing.  It’s like he’s trying to put on a show.” An enormous shudder wracked his body. “And now he’s sitting there with Daisy Abbott…”

He trailed off, but Rey’s mind had spun at that last statement.  Why did it bother him who Finn talked to…oh. Rey recalled Poe’s face when Finn had gone off on that first date with Daisy Abbott, the way he’d watched the Three Broomsticks for him to come out again.  The warm looks he gave Finn sometimes, when he thought no one else was looking.

“And I think he must be punishing me,” Poe continued.  “Or someone is. The universe, Merlin, I don’t know. Because now I know what it must have felt like.  Holy hell, Rey, I’ve been such a goddamn idiot.”

He’d started crying, great wracking sobs pulled from the depths of his chest, as if he were unwilling to let go of them.  Rey patted his shoulder, still trying to catch up to all of this confession at once. “I hate to say it, Poe, but if you liked Finn and he liked you, why did you kiss Jess?”

Poe groaned and buried his face in his hands.  “I don’t know! I didn’t think he actually felt the same way and then she kissed me and I thought I was supposed to kiss her back but then it all just felt sort of  _ wrong _ and I didn’t really  _ want  _ to kiss her…”

“Have you talked to Finn about it?” she asked before he could continue on his ramblings about kissing Jess.  “Now that you’ve sorted it all out?”

“It’s too late,” Poe groaned from behind his hands.  “He’s moved on now and is talking to Daisy Abbott again and I screwed the whole mess up.  As usual.”

“Did he  _ tell _ you he’s moved on?” Rey prodded further.  “Did you ever actually have a conversation with him about all this?”  

Finally, Poe shook his head but still did not emerge from behind his hands.  Rey rolled her eyes and stared out at the darkened Quidditch Pitch. No wonder he’d sought solace there.  It always felt welcoming to her, especially at night with the quiet hanging over the whole field. Now, a soft fall of snow coated the ground and the stands alike in white.  They could have full drifts and several feet by morning.  

“Then,” she said with a sigh.  “I suggest you talk to him. Tell him what you told me.”

He finally looked up from his hands with wide eyes that reminded her of a deer in headlights.  “I can’t do that. I can’t tell him how I feel, Rey. That’ll just make everything even worse than it already is.  I might lose him. We might not be friends anymore at all.”

“Poe,” she snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him a bit.  “You acknowledged that he liked you, right?” Poe nodded. “And you like him?”  He nodded again. “And now you’re upset because he’s gone and done the same thing to you, right?  Well, my educated guess is that Finn has no bloody idea you like him. I doubt he’s even planning on dating Daisy Abbott.  He’s done nothing to suggest it. But you should talk to him because at least then, if things don’t go the way you want, you will have  _ tried _ and that’s better than doing jack shit.”

“But…we’re friends…and I don’t know…”

“Really?”  she snapped.  “You’re friends?  Have you done much talking in the past few weeks?”  Poe shook his head. “You said he falls silent every time you’re in a room just the two of you.  Does that sound much like friends?” He shook his head again. “Then, you’re not really risking very much by the sound of it.”

He covered his face again and groaned.  “Alright, alright, I guess you’re right.  Merlin, Rey, can’t just show a bloke some sympathy, can you?”

She gave him a small smile.  “Not when said bloke has screwed everything up for himself.  You made this bed, you have to lie in it. But I’d take the shot and try to do something about it before it’s too late.”

“It might already be too late,” Poe muttered, staring up at the few stars they could see through the clouds.

“Yeah,” she conceded.  “It might. But, the way I see it,” she turned to look at him.  “If you feel that strongly for him, if it could be something like love, it’s worth taking the shot, isn’t it?  For something that big?”

“Yeah,” he muttered.  “I think it is.” He wrapped her hand in his and squeezed.  “Thanks, Rey.”

“Anytime, Poe.”

They sat back on the benches in the Quidditch stands, hands entwined, watching the snow fall to settle across the Hogwarts grounds.  And Rey couldn’t explain why her thoughts drifted inexplicably to Ben Solo.

She met him in an empty classroom on the fourth floor the next afternoon.  For once, she arrived first and assessed the situation. The room itself made her a little sad.  Once, she imagined, it had housed more classes of students. Lower levels, perhaps, or more advanced classes for students such as herself.  But now it sat unused, a light sheen of dust covering the shrouded desks, which were all pushed to one side. The light that filtered in through the tall windows held the same musty quality as the air in the room.  The windows were too dusty for it to shine through clearly.  

Perhaps, she thought, if they played their cards right, it would be filled with students again who went to school in a safer world than the one that haunted them now.  The Daily Prophet had recorded another two attacks by Snoke and his Death Eaters. They hadn’t even merited the front page. Was this the world they were living in now?

The door opened behind her and she turned to see Solo slip into the room.  His eyes scanned over the musty desks and dusty windows. “A bit dreary, isn’t it?”

Rey nodded.  “I can dust off the windows, but we’ll be sneezing the rest of the day and the light will get in your eyes.”

He shrugged and scuffed a bit of dust with his shoe.  “We’ll manage. Besides, I live in the Slytherin dorms.  It’s not as if I’m a stranger to dismal places.”

She rolled her eyes.  “You must have forgotten I’ve  _ been _ in the Slytherin common room, so I know it’s far from dreary.  You can’t pull the wool over my eyes anymore.”

His dark eyes still had not left her face.  “That’s not something I would forget in a hurry,” he said softly.

His tone made something inside her flutter.  Something that she would examine later, when she had time, and definitely not  _ now _ when Solo was standing mere feet from her staring at her as if he would never stop.  She pushed the feeling away and cleared her throat. “Right, well, I suppose we should get started.”

“Yes, of course,  _ professor _ , go right ahead.  What’s our first lesson?”  Sometimes, he made it so  _ easy _ to forget those odd flutterings in her chest.  Like now, when he had relapsed into his snarky ways.  Despite herself, she grinned.

“If you’re going to be an insufferable prick, you can figure this out on your own,” she reminded him, not that she had any intention of leaving.  She made sure he knew that too by stepping just a bit closer and considering his question. “Well, you said you had trouble coming up with fond memories to use for your Patronus, right?”

He nodded hesitantly.  She could see the walls go up in his eyes.  That wouldn’t do at all. She couldn’t help him if he wouldn’t reveal anything.  With a flick of her wand, she dislodged a couple of desks and sent them skidding towards them.  Rey pushed herself up on one, folding her jean-clad legs beneath her, and motioned for him to do the same.  He still eyed her as if she was liable to attack him.

“You know you need a strong memory to conjure a Patronus, especially a corporeal one.  It has to be a happy memory too. What have you tried so far? Something from your childhood, perhaps?”  He gave her a  _ look _ .  “Alright, fair enough.  But there must be something?  What’s your happiest memory?”

He sat silently, staring down at the worn stones on the ground in front of him.  “I don’t know. What do you think of?”

His question took her off guard, although in hindsight it shouldn’t have.  Fair enough. If she wanted him to reveal something so personal, she’d have to do the same.  “Various things. I change it up every time. Sometimes I think about when I first saw Hogwarts out of the train window, and I knew for the first time that this world was real, and I actually belonged in it.  I didn’t truly believe it before that. I thought someone would pull me off the train when I arrived and tell me there had been some kind of mistake.”

While she spoke, his eyes had lifted from the ground to hers.  “I used to run around the halls of Hogwarts when I was a kid,” he said.  “Before I could officially be sorted and start attending. When everyone else had class, I would explore every corner.”

“That must have been wonderful for a kid,” she said with a smile.  “This place is so full of wonder even now. It must have seemed twice so then.”

He shrugged.  “I suppose so.  I liked finding all of the hidden spaces.  Mum was always busy and dad didn’t stay here, so no one really minded where I was most of the time.  After a while, though, I ran out of places to find.”

Another tainted memory of his childhood.  Rey felt a stab of pity for him. “I think of meeting Poe and Finn and Rose.  Sometimes, I think about getting sorted into Hufflepuff. I didn’t understand what it meant then, but Rose was sorted just after me.  And now that I call my house my home, that memory is a happy one for me.”

“I wish my Sorting was as cheerful,” he muttered.  “Mum turned white in the face. I could tell I disappointed them, even if they didn’t tell me for a while.”

“What about Quidditch?” she offered.  It wasn’t usually a strong enough feeling for her to conjure a Patronus, but perhaps it could be for him.  “I felt like I could conquer the world the first time I flew in a Quidditch match. The first time I caught the snitch was even better.”

“I tried focusing on that,” he answered, dropping his eyes again.  “It didn’t seem to work.” She could see in the slope of his shoulders that he had started to give up.  “Maybe I really just can’t conjure one.”

“Nonsense.  Maybe you just have to think about multiple memories all at once, not just one.  That works for me sometimes, just getting the feeling from them all.”

“Show me then,” he said, his eyes bright.  “Cast your Patronus. I didn’t even get to see what it was the first time.”

Rey didn’t see how that would help him learn but, she reasoned, it couldn’t hurt.  She leapt off the desk and drew her wand. It felt different with him there, just inches to her side.  It took her a long moment to center herself, to reach for those memories that always filled her with joy.  A few deep breaths later and she was there. She lifted her wand.

“ _ Expecto Patronum! _ ”  Even with her eyes closed, she could feel that it had worked.  She opened them to see her Patronus galloping around the room in its shining glory, leaving a trail behind it.  

“Is that…a unicorn?” he asked.  She nodded. A breath later and he was laughing.  Real laughter, the kind that doubled him over.  

“Shut up,” she said, but she couldn’t help but grin a little.  When he didn’t stop, she smacked him on the shoulder. “Shut up!  I know, alright, but it’s not like I picked it.”

“Just…it’s so classic.  Hufflepuff Princess with a unicorn Patronus.  Can you  _ be _ more of Hufflepuff’s Golden Girl?” he wheezed in between his laughter.  She shoved him again, so hard he almost fell over. “Alright, I’m sorry. When I first saw it, I thought it was some fancy horse.”

That made her start up laughing.  “A fancy horse? What kind of  _ fancy horse _ , Ben Solo?”

“Oh, shut up.”  He rolled his eyes.

“I will not.  I reserve the full right to make fun of your Patronus when you manage it,” she said with her hands on her hips.  “Just you wait.”

“ _ If _ I manage it,” he muttered.

She crossed her arms.  “You’re such a spoilsport, you know that?”  He cracked a small smile at that. “Alright, back to the matter at hand.  It’s not  _ my _ Patronus we’re worried about, unicorn or not.”

Rey coached him on his happy memories but, try as he might, he did not cast a Patronus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who is reading and leaving such nice comments and kudos on this work! I really can't express how much it means to me that you're enjoying reading this little fic. It keeps me writing :)


	29. to be fearful of the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark days are coming. Even Hogwarts students must take sides.

“Another one,” Poe said, setting his newspaper down with a crunch at the lunch table on Monday.  Across it, Rey could see a headline emblazoned.  _ Wizarding Family Murdered by Death Eaters _ .  “Wizards this time.  Seems like he’s getting bored of murdering defenseless Muggle families.”

On the crinkled paper between them, two pictures moved.  The first showed a family portrait: a mother, a father, and two young daughters, too young for Hogwarts, smiling out at them and laughing about something kept secret.  Next to it, a house half in ruins and the Dark Mark in the sky. Rey shuddered.

“Let me see that,” Finn said, pulling the paper from Poe’s hands before he could protest.  “Bloody hell, those are the Antons. I met them when we vacationed in France a few years ago.  They only had one little girl then.” He read on in the article. “They killed both the girls too.  Merlin, Lily was only five.”  

He opened the paper to read on.  Some pages into the middle, where the Daily Prophet had continued the article, there was another picture.  This one, of their living room wall, showed the words  _ Blood Traitors _ written in what appeared to be blood.  Suddenly, Rey couldn’t stomach any more of her lunch.  Even Finn shut the article, too queasy to read on.

Beside her, Rose wiped her eyes.  “Some people are saying he’ll attack Hogwarts.  Do you think that’s his plan? Will he come here?”

“Who knows?” Poe said, pulling the newspaper back from Finn’s idle hands.  

At the same time, Finn, relinquishing the newspaper and reaching over to pat Rose’s shoulder, said, “Certainly not.  He’s not strong enough to attack Hogwarts. Not with Professor Skywalker, Kenobi, and Organa here, not to mention all the other professors.”

“But he’s insane,” Poe continued.  “So, who knows what he’ll do next?”

Rey put an arm around her friend and shot Poe a glare across the table, which he did not see because he had returned to perusing the Prophet with his brows knitted.  “I’m sure he’s not planning to attack Hogwarts.”

“Are you reading the article?” Jyn said, sitting down beside Poe.  Her mouth turned down into an uncharacteristic, grave frown. “Awful, isn’t it?”  Cassian followed her, sitting down on her other side and not looking up to meet anyone’s gaze.  “Things seem to be getting worse.”

“His attacks are getting more frequent,” Rey commented, smoothing calm circles over Rose’s back.  “And now he’s attacking wizarding families again. And in the middle of a town too. Look, the Antons lived in Godric’s Hollow.  That’s bold.”

“That’s how it started last time,” Bodhi said, a tremor in his voice.  “Almost everyone ignored him when he attacked Muggle families. Then, he graduated to wizarding families until he couldn’t be ignored anymore.  He’s gathering followers, I hear.”

“There will be another war,” Cassian said in his quiet voice, speaking up for the first time.  “It’s already starting.”

Finn looked ready to be sick.  Rey put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  If they went to war again, he would find himself on the opposite side from his family.  Being at odds with them was bad enough. Fighting a war against them was something else.  Would he fight, if that happened? He had barely turned seventeen.

Poe set the paper down with a fierce slap that startled several third years sitting near them.  He leaned in a little closer and they copied him automatically. At his glare, the third years turned their backs on them.  “I hear Professor Organa is reinstating the Order,” he said.  

“The Order of the Falcon?  D’you mean it?” Rey said, glancing around to see that no one else in the busy Great Hall had turned to listen.  

Poe nodded.  “Mum and Dad were part of it in the last war.  They said so in a letter the other day. I didn’t think too much about it until now.”

“Mum said something similar,” Jyn added.  “But she didn’t say if she’d join yet.”

“Things must be getting bad if they’re bringing it back,” Rose said, her eyes shifting restlessly between them.

“I’ll be seventeen over break,” Poe said.  “Of age. If they’re bringing it back, I’m joining this time.  I’m not just going to sit back in this war.”

“Will Professor Organa let you?” Bodhi asked.  “Let any of us? We’re still students. Could we really join the Order, if it comes to that?”

Poe clenched his fist.  “We’re of age. She can’t stop us if we’re of age.  We can make that choice. And I’m going to fight.”

Jyn nodded.  “Count me in.  I’m not sitting this one out.”

Cassian nodded.  Bodhi looked between his friends and knotted his hands together before he nodded as well.  Rey looked at Rose, who stared up at her with terrified eyes. Were they really considering this?  Fighting in a war? They hadn’t even graduated Hogwarts yet, taken their NEWTS, worked a single day in a job.  Would they even be able to help? She glanced over Poe’s shoulder, where the Slytherin table carried on as usual.  Would fighting in this war mean fighting against Ben? The idea hit her like a punch in the stomach.

“I’ll join too,” Finn said, his hands gripping the edge of the table.  She knew how much he would give up if they did.

“Me too,” Rey said.  Rose finally nodded, swallowing hard.  

Poe looked around their group with fire in his eyes.  “We should talk to Professor Organa together. We can convince her if we’re all there.”

Rey looked up at the staff table, where Professor Organa had her head in her hands.  “Not today, Poe. Just wait a few days. We’ll all talk to her then.”

He looked reluctant but agreed.

Rey found it hard to breathe for the rest of the afternoon.

 

She met Ben later that night in another abandoned classroom on the fifth floor.  Again, she beat him there and sat staring out of the window where snow fell across the school grounds when he entered.  Rey heard his footsteps soft even on the stone as they approached her but did not turn.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice only a few feet away.  She wanted to tell him.  _ Merlin _ , she wanted to tell him how  _ scared _ she was.  They had decided that very morning to fight in a war that had started long before they were even born.  All of her friends planned to do the same – she had seen Eliza and Hannah later – except Ben.  

Rey turned to him.  His dark eyes bore into hers, his mouth turned down at the corners.  She’d seen so much more from him than before. But was it enough? He had not spoken of her blood status in months, nor had he said anything about the impending war at all.  But now she wondered. Would he stand with Snoke? With many of the Slytherins? His friends? Did her decision to join the Order mean she would stand against him on a battlefield, wands pointed at each other instead of together at an enemy?

She said none of this.  She couldn’t bring herself to want the answer.  It would hurt too much. “It’s just the headline from the Prophet today,” Rey answered, the closest she could get to her true fears.  “I’m worried. And afraid.”

He nodded and looked away.  He didn’t tell her not to be afraid and, for that, she was grateful.  They both knew she had full reason to be afraid of what would come. If Snoke rose to power, Rey and everyone like her would be in danger.  She had nowhere to run.

“If you don’t want to practice today,” Ben said.  “I understand.”

“No, let’s do it,” she said, sliding off the desk where she’d sat.  “I need to practice mine anyway. With what’s coming, I need to be able to cast it no matter how my day’s been.”

His mouth twitched.  “I’d settle for casting it just once.”

But, try as he might, he could not.  Somehow, after a while, they ended up sitting together with their backs propped against the teacher’s desk.  Rey couldn’t remember who had given up and sat down first or how they had decided to let their spellwork fall by the wayside.  Yet, here they sat, neither of them venturing to rise.

“Are you afraid?” Rey asked after some time of silence.  “Are you afraid of Snoke’s rise? What will happen after?”

“Yes,” he admitted at once.  She turned to look at him. Half of her had not expected to receive an answer at all.  The other half had dreaded the answer she would receive. “I don’t know what will happen.  He will rise and there will be another war, and someone will win. Either way, we’ll all lose in some way.”

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes sliding back to the wall opposite.  Their wands sat idle on their laps; their legs splayed out in front of them.  “I suppose we will.”  

She thought for a moment longer.  They had learned about the Second Wizarding War in History of Magic.  According to the ghost who taught it – who, in fact, had fought in the war – Professor Yoda, they had closed Hogwarts.  “Will they close the school again?” she wondered out loud. She didn’t know what she would do without Hogwarts. “If that happens?”  Rey felt him look at her and knew he had no answer. He was no Seer. He could not see the future. “I don’t have anywhere to go without Hogwarts.”

“The Damerons would take you in.  Don’t they do that with everyone?”

She nodded absently.  “I suppose so. Hogwarts is the only real home I’ve ever known.”

“Are you staying for Christmas?” he asked.  “I mean…sorry.”

Her shoulder rubbed his when she shifted.  “Yes, I signed the list. Are you?”

“I always do,” he answered.  Truth be told, she didn’t know that.  She’d never seen him around the castle on holidays that she remembered.  If she had, he had never bothered her nor she him. “We should…I mean, if you want…”

“Study together,” she offered.  “Or something.”

“Right.”  He nodded.   _ Study together. _   She could have kicked herself.  That wasn’t what she meant at all.  They lapsed into silence again, long and only half-comfortable.  They watched the snow fall thick out the window.

“I don’t believe all that rubbish anymore,” he blurted suddenly, as if the words rushed out of him on their own volition.  “All that blood status shit and mud—muggleborns not belonging in our world.” Rey blinked up at him. His admission left her with even more questions.  He looked down at his hands clenched in his lap. “I just thought you should know.”

“Why?” she couldn’t help but ask.  She knew the beginning of that story and now the end but nothing of the middle.  They had not spent their time arguing over the subject. Neither of them had mentioned it in months.  “What changed your mind?”

His dark eyes were steady when they met hers.  “You did,” he admitted and shook his head. “I’ve been such a prick, Rey.”  She still had not recovered the ability to speak. “Remember what you told me the other week?  That you thought I could cast a Patronus because I could do all sorts of other things. I got to thinking: if you don’t belong in this world, why are you so goddamned good at everything?”

“I’m not…” 

He didn’t let her finish her protest.  “You are. You’re top of the class in every subject, well on your way to being a cursebreaker, and you cast your Patronus in just weeks.  You’re the brightest witch at Hogwarts,” he said. Rey felt the compliment deep in her bones. It meant a lot coming from someone related to  _ Leia Organa _ herself.  It meant even more coming from Ben Solo.  “I was an idiot grasping at straws trying to find a reason why you weren’t better than me at everything.”

“I’m not better than you at everything,” she finally protested.  “You’re my equal in everything, if not better. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

Ben looked down at her in silence for a long moment.  “I always wondered why you seemed to fill the shoes that I could not.  You had everything I should have from the beginning. My parents and uncle loved you.  From the start, you were Hufflepuff’s Golden Girl, same house as my father. Hell, you even play Seeker on the team like he did and you’re one of the best flyers in the school.  On top of that, you were better or just as good in every subject and you wanted to be a cursebreaker too…all I ever did was let my parents down.”

Rey covered his hand with hers and laced their fingers together.  She thought he might have tears in his eyes. “I’ve been such a fucking idiot, Rey.”

“Apology accepted,” she said, and he barked a startled laugh.  

They sat like that for a while, fingers still threaded together and comfortable silence hanging between them.  Rey felt a little less afraid. She thought perhaps she could face Snoke if Ben Solo didn’t stand by his side.


	30. Stubbornness comes in many forms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben finally casts his Patronus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you've been waiting to find out what it is! I hope it satisfies :) thank you to everyone who's been commenting! I love reading what you think of this story as it progresses and it really keeps me writing. More to come on Wednesday!

On the Friday before break began, they went  _ en mas _ s _ e _ to Professor Organa’s office.  In the end, twelve of them had agreed.  Jyn and Cassian had convinced the rest of Rogue One – Melshi, Malbus, Bodhi, and Kay.  Rey’s friends had not needed convincing, but she and Rose had spoken to Hannah and Eliza that same night.  She heard at least four of them take deep breaths before they knocked on her door and entered.

Leia Organa looked up from the parchment on her desk and took off her reading glasses.  Only then did Rey consider how old the revered witch had gotten. She had aged well and lost none of her power nor her energy, but her hair was laced with grey.  She looked at them and sighed. “I’m not sure I want to know. How can I help you?”

It was Poe who stepped forward, flanked by Jyn and Cassian.  “We want to join the Order,” he announced, his hands clenched as if to fight her for it.

Professor Organa looked between them, her face confused and amused.  “What order?”

“We know you’re putting the Order of the Falcon back together,” Jyn interjected.  “And we want in. You need soldiers.”

“You’re not soldiers,” Professor Organa answered sharply.  “You’re students. And I know nothing about any orders or falcons.  Good day.”

She replaced the glasses on her nose and returned to reading the parchment in front of her.  Poe, Jyn, and Cassian looked back and forth between them. They had not, it would seem, anticipated this response from Leia Organa.  Rey had expected no other. None of them moved, the professor did not look up, and Poe had run out of words. Finn stepped to the front of the group, lightly shouldering them out of the way.

“With all due respect, professor,” he said.  She looked up in surprise at his quiet voice.  Clearly, she too had expected to be accosted by Poe or Jyn again.  “There’s a war coming and we’re all going to have to choose sides. We’ve made our choice.  We’ll all be of age by the end of the month. What else would you have us do?”

Leia Organa sighed and put her glasses down again, pinching the bridge of her nose.  “I expected this from you, Dameron, and you, Erso, but not you, Zabini.”

Finn winced at the use of his surname.  “Then, professor, you must not know me very well.”

She smiled slightly.  “Perhaps not.” She stood from her chair.  “But the point remains. You are students, not soldiers.”

“We are wizards,” Cassian said.  “Trained by you.”

“That,” she said, peering at him.  “Is a low blow.”

“Professor,” Rey said, shouldering her way to the front.  “We can’t just sit by and do nothing. Hogwarts is my home.”  Her voice caught and Finn put a hand on her back. “I don’t want to lose my place in the wizarding world.  I will fight for that. We all want to.”

“If you don’t let us join the Order,” Poe argued.  “We’ll just form our own and fight Snoke on our own.”

Faced with all twelve of them gathered around her, Professor Organa sighed.  “Do any of your parents know you’re planning this?”

Jyn snorted.  “Like my parents would expect anything else.”  Poe seconded that.

“The Ersos are my family,” Cassian muttered.  

“I imagine if my mother knew I was here, she’d have me killed, but she probably will do that anyway,” Finn said with a shrug.

“Don’t have parents,” Rey reminded her.

“The rest of you,” Professor Organa said, looking between Hannah, Kay, and the others.  “Do have families, ones who are worried about your safety. I insist you at least appraise them of your decision, so they have a chance to know what danger you’re getting yourselves into.”

“Is that a yes?” Poe said, nearly bouncing with his excitement.

“Since you are all of age,” she said.  “And volunteering, I suppose I cannot in my right mind say no.”  She paused and smiled slightly. “In truth, there is no one I would rather fight alongside.”

Rey walked around in a daze for the rest of the day.  She and her friends had just essentially signed up to join a war.  For all she knew, she could be signing her death warrant. And despite her enlightening conversation with Ben the week before, she still did not know what he would do when the time came.  He also still had not cast his Patronus, a fact that made him increasingly grumpy as their midterm exam approached.

He cursed and kicked a desk, sending it skittering a few inches across the floor.  He ran a hand through his hair and clenched his wand in the other fist. Rey took a few hesitant steps closer to him and tried to comfort him, but he wasn’t in the mood for it.

“That was close, Ben,” she said, squeezing his shoulder.  “You got a wisp of white that time. I think we’re almost there.”

“It’s not good enough,” he growled.  “We’ve been at this for weeks and I still can’t cast even a noncorporeal Patronus.  I’m going to fail the midterm.”

“You’re not going to fail the midterm,” she insisted.  “You will do just fine.”

He turned to her, his dark eyes glowering.  “Or maybe I just can’t cast one at all,” he snapped.  “Like I said from the start. You didn’t have to get my hopes up.”

“And you don’t have to stomp around every time something doesn’t go your way,” she answered, hands on her hips.  He snapped his jaw shut and glared at her. “You are perfectly capable of casting a Patronus, but you don’t believe that you can.”

“Don’t give me some bullshit like  _ you have to believe in yourself _ .  I’m not a sodding Hufflepuff.  I don’t want that drivel.”

“To cast a Patronus, you have to be emotionally in tune with yourself, which you, Ben Solo, are  _ not _ .”  She had said something similar to him before but never with so much bluntness.  He turned to stare at her. “You’re a total mess and…”

“Is this supposed to help me?” he drawled.  “It’s not.”

“ _ And _ you are focusing too much on forcing yourself to recall your happy memories instead of letting them come to you.  You can’t cast a Patronus through sheer force of will.”

He still glowered at her, but his shoulders slumped, as if he knew she was right.  “Are you my professor or therapist?”

“I’m your friend, Ben,” she said, more softly this time.

Finally, he nodded and his grip on his wand loosened a little bit.  “Alright, I’ll try again.”

Rey decided she had to take a different path.  Clearly, the way they’d been trying to go about this had not been working.  At all. “Ben,” she said, taking a step closer to him and invading his personal space in the process.  “You’ve had to deal with dark memories for your whole life. Something got you through the moments of darkness.  When everything threatened to swallow you whole, you had to cling to something. You’ve had to fight that darkness that sometimes weighed down on you so much you couldn’t breathe.”

“I never told you that,” he whispered, his eyes fixed on hers.

“You didn’t have to,” she said.  “I’ve felt it too. And I saw the look in your eye.  It’s been weighing on you more recently, hasn’t it?” she ventured.  He nodded, his shoulders rigid. “In all of those times, when you felt like maybe it was better to just give up and end it, you had to keep holding onto something.  What was it?”

He didn’t answer, but she could see in his eyes that he had found that something.  

“You don’t have to tell me what it is,” she continued.  “But focus on that. Cling to it like your lifeline. You’ve told me so many times that you can’t cast a Patronus, but you’ve done it a thousand times before.  Except then it was against your personal Dementors and that’s harder. You can do this.”

Ben swallowed hard and nodded.  Rey stepped back so he could raise his wand.  The magic prickled along her arms and raised the hair there.  She held her breath as she watched him steady himself and shut his eyes to focus.

“ _ Expecto Patronum! _ ” he called, his voice loud and clear despite the tremor in his hand.

Rey gasped as an enormous white shape burst from the tip of his wand.  At first, she thought, it was a horse. It looked an awful lot like her own Patronus, but it lacked the distinct horn of her unicorn.  Ben still had not opened his eyes, as if afraid to see if he had failed again. She grabbed at his outstretched arm and tugged at it to break him from his trance.

“Ben!  Merlin, Ben, look at it!  You did it!” she said.

He finally opened his eyes.  And stared at the white form galloping around the room.  She turned to him with a shit-eating grin threatening to split her face wide open.  “It’s a fancy horse,” she said between peals of laughter.

Ben couldn’t help but laugh too, relief evident in his eyes.  “It’s not a damn horse, Rey.”

“Neither is a unicorn,” she reminded him.

As the Patronus made another lap of the room and returned to them, she got a good look at it for the first time.  It was unlike anything she had seen before. But Ben gaped at it. Clearly, he had seen it somewhere before. “It’s…” he said around the sudden lump in his throat.  “It’s a Thestral.”

“A Thestral?”  She distantly remembered hearing about those in her classes, years ago perhaps.  Thestrals, it was said, appeared only to those who had witnessed death and been affected by it.  Some students said they pulled the carriages to Hogwarts, the ones that seemed to be pulled by nothing.  Her mind flashed back to their first day of term, when Ben had paused upon entering the carriage. Had he seen the Thestral then?  Whose death had he witnessed?

He nodded, still staring at the spot where his Patronus had vanished.  She rifled through her schoolbag until she found the Patronus guide they all carried with them now.  She flipped through it until she found the entry on Thestrals.

“Very rare Patronuses,” she read out loud.  “These creatures, although considered unlucky omens by many for their associations with death, are gentle and kind.  They only appear to those who have witnessed death and accepted its significance. Thestrals are extremely loyal, compassionate, and misunderstood, much like their casters.  This is a very powerful Patronus.” She let the book fall from her hands and looked up at him. “Wow, Ben.”

His eyes met hers.  “I suppose we both have unusual Patronuses.”

She did not read the last line of the entry to him.  It said that wizards with Thestral Patronuses often have to confront the death of a loved one or their own death as a significant event in their lives.

She didn’t want to think about what that meant for him.


	31. Life goes on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and her friends face their midterm for Defense Against the Dark Arts and discuss the impending Yule Ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you so much for all of the lovely comments after the last chapter. I love hearing what you think about this story. A special thank you to my serial commenters who always leave such nice remarks with every chapter. You make my day! Second: yes, I know the Yule Ball is a Triwizard Tournament thing, but Hogwarts definitely needs a yearly dance. The chance for drama was too good to pass up. I think you'll be glad I took my opportunity when I had it.
> 
> Enjoy!

On the last day of term, the castle buzzed with nerves and anticipation.  The Yule Ball, a time-honored tradition at Hogwarts, was nearly upon them.  In truth, Rey had nearly forgotten about the Yule Ball. She had been too caught up with Patronuses and joining the Order and looking forward to Christmas Break to worry about the Yule Ball.  

“Rey,” Rose said, running a little to keep up with them as they hurried to Defense.  “You  _ have _ to go to the Yule Ball!  It’s the best thing all year!  I’ll be so  _ bored _ without you.”

“Rose, you won’t even notice whether I’m there or not.  You’re going with Melshi,” she argued. “Besides, no one asked me.”

“ _ I’m  _ asking you,” Rose insisted.

“You can’t ask me when you already have a date.”  Rey rolled her eyes as Rose huffed out her frustration.  She turned to Finn and Poe. “Are you two going?”

Poe glanced over at Finn and looked away again just as quickly.  He shrugged. “I don’t know,” Finn answered also. “I suppose so.  We’re not supposed to leave until Sunday. Last year was fun.”

Rose glanced between them and a small smile quirked her mouth.  “You’re not asking Daisy Abbott?” she asked innocently. Poe tripped over his own feet.  Finn didn’t seem to notice any of the weirdness going on around him.

“No, Daisy and I are just friends,” he answered.  If he had bothered to look over at Poe at that moment, all of the confusion and chaos surrounding the two of them would have been cleared up in an instant.  Because Poe wore an expression of utter relief, completely undisguised. “I still think I might go, though.”

“Yeah,” Poe choked out.  “I guess I’ll go too. Dancing and stuff.  It’s fun.”

“So there,” Rose announced, turning back to Rey.  “You have to go if the rest of us are going.”

Well, if Finn and Poe were still skirting around each other and Rose wasn’t around to play interference, Rey supposed she  _ did _ have to go, date or no.  Not that she cared if she had a date.  Not that she wanted a certain Slytherin to maybe ask her to the Yule Ball.  No, Rey had no one she was interested in. None at all. She would go to the Yule Ball alone and have a great time with her friends.  No date needed.

They entered Defense together and all thoughts of the Yule Ball and the Christmas holidays went out of their heads.  They had arrived at their final exam. Rey could feel the nerves descend on her friends. Both Rose and Poe had still not managed to cast more than a non-corporeal Patronus.  They knotted their hands together as they entered the room.

“You’ll get it,” Rey tried to reassure them.  “Anyway, a non-corporeal will still get you a decent mark.”

Rose looked slightly reassured at that, but it did nothing for Poe, who had never received a low score in Defense in his life.  

They took up their spots in the room, wands clutched in their sweaty palms, as Professor Organa and Professor Kanata rose to stand before them by the teacher’s desk.  The esteemed witch clapped once and the room rang into silence. Only the occasional shuffling of feet on stone could be heard in the crowded chamber. Beside Rey, Rose clutched her wand hard enough to snap it.

“Alright,” she beamed out at her anxious students.  “Welcome to our last Defense class of the semester. I know you are probably a little nervous about this midterm.  Anxiousness will not aid your chances of casting a patronus. Trust your instincts and your learning. You have the entire two-hour exam period to cast your patronus, so use your time well and remember what we have rehearsed.  Especially if this is a difficult skill for you, take the time to breathe and center yourself, recall your happy memories, don’t rush straight into the casting.”

“And if you grip your wand that tight, Miss Kent, you’re going to break it,” Professor Kanata said, eyeing her through her enormous spectacles.  Hannah flushed to the roots of her hair.

“Remember,” Professor Organa said as if the other woman had not spoken.  “We are on your side. I want you to succeed. So, take your time and give it a proper attempt.  If you complete your charm early, please move to the sides of the room and remain quiet so others can focus.  Let us begin.”

The students all rustled a little as they tried to find their place and settle in.  No one wanted to be the first one to cast their spell, lest they attempt it too early and fail in front of the whole class.  Professor Organa, though, stepped down and began to walk between the students. Rey closed her eyes and focused on calming her heartbeat and breathing deeply.  Somewhere in the room, someone called  _ Expecto Patronum! _ but, by that time, she was not paying attention anymore.

Rey and Finn both cast their Patronuses early in the class, their full-bodied animals sweeping around the room together.  They did not achieve it first, but they were by no means the last, and so Rey was satisfied. She turned to him and grinned, his salamander and her unicorn gliding around the room in tandem.  Professor Organa passed between them with a clipboard, smiling over her spectacles, and nodded to the side of the room, where Eliza had already taken up a place with her book.

They spent the rest of the class lounging against the wall of the classroom, watching their classmates struggle to cast their own Patronuses.

“Are you going to ask anyone to the Yule Ball?” she asked Finn in a perfect picture of innocent detachment and tracked the way his eyes lingered on Poe. 

But Finn shook his head.  “If I wanted to ask someone, I would have done it before now, since it’s tomorrow and all.  I have more class than that.” He frowned. “Besides,” he continued more quietly. “You know who I would ask if I could.”

“Daisy Abbott?” she teased and earned only a slight smile in return.  “Then ask him, Finn. Ask him. It’s the perfect chance.”

“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head.  “I have to get over him. It’s never going to happen.”

Rey doubted that, but before she could answer, a Patronus bloomed above the students, startling a few cries and gasps with its sudden appearance.  A shimmering Thestral galloped around the room from Ben Solo’s outstretched wand. The class turned almost as one to stare at him. He found her in the crowd and gave her a small smile.  She returned it across the room with a subtle thumbs-up. For once, she thought, he didn’t have those circles under his eyes, and he looked almost proud of himself.

“Are you going to ask someone to the Yule Ball?” Finn’s voice in her ear startled her and brought her back to the present, sitting beside her best friend and not in a world where she would give Ben Solo encouragement.

Rey flushed to the roots of her hair.  “I don’t know who I would ask.”

Finn sat back, a smug smile on his face.  “Sure, Rey. And I didn’t just witness you smile at Ben Solo of all people.”

She looked down at her hands.  Damn, no secrets to be kept anymore.  “I was tutoring him on his Patronus. He asked for help.  That’s all,” she hedged.

He raised his eyebrows, losing that smug look.  “Ben Solo asked for help?”

She straightened her shoulders at the disbelief in his tone.  “Yes, he did. He had some trouble with his Patronus and he wanted full marks, so he asked me for help since I’d already done it.  We’ve had to work together on rounds this year anyway.”

“More than just rounds,” he muttered.  When she looked at him with questions in her eyes and tension in her shoulders, he shrugged.  “What? It’s an open secret that whatever happened over Halloween involved you  _ and _ Ben Solo.  Some rumors flew for a little bit, but there wasn’t anything much to go on, since you clammed up right after.  I even heard Hux wrinkling his pasty nose at him over it.”

Rey whipped around at that, bristling.  “What? What did Hux say?”

Finn’s brow creased.  “The usual bullshit. You know,  _ why are you hanging around a m... _ you-know-what _. _   That shit.  Solo just shrugged it off.”

Rey sat back, mulling that over.  Ben had never said anything to her about Hux’s comments.  It must have been hard for him, with her angry at him and his mother’s attention fixed on him again and Hux’s pestering.  “Rat-faced bastard,” she muttered without meaning to. “Not Ben. Hux.”

Her best friend looked at her like she had three heads.  “Are you...Merlin, Rey, are you  _ defending _ him?  You really are cozy with Ben Solo?”

She felt herself flush again and fought the urge to cover her face to hide it.  The disgust in Finn’s voice said enough about what he thought of that idea. “He’s not so bad.  You know, we’ve had to work together this year. He’s gotten a lot better.”

“Rey, love,” Finn said with warmth.  His tone wasn’t the least bit patronizing, for which she was grateful, just matter-of-fact.  “He called you a you-know-what  _ this year _ .”

“Not really and he’s apologised for all of that,” she answered in earnest.  Finn did not look the least bit convinced. “He has, Finn. He doesn’t believe all that rubbish anymore.  Told me so himself. He’s been polite all year and...I actually trust him.”

Finn sighed as if he could sense her sincerity.  “I’m not doubting you, love. You’re free to like whomever you want and you know I’ll have your back.  Poe...now that might not go so well, although I  _ can _ tell you that Solo scored major points with him over Quidditch.”

“Ben’s a Keeper, not a Chaser,” Rey reminded him with a grin.

“Shut up, I’m being sincere,” he said, his expression not cracking an inch.  “You’re hilarious. All I’m trying to say, Rey, is be careful.”

“I am careful.”

Finn sighed again.  “Yes, you are. And I know he said all of those things; I believe you.  But I can tell you from personal experience that he’s running with the wrong crowd.”  His eyes grew dark with something she didn’t often see in her best friend. “And they’re a hard lot to break away from, no matter how much he wants to.  We all know what’s coming. He might end up on the wrong side of things just by association. I don’t want you to get hurt along the way.”

Rey stared at him, at a loss for words.  Her old fears, laid to rest by Ben’s confession, reasserted themselves.  Finn was right: just because Ben didn’t want to be a part of that anymore didn’t mean he could break away that easily.  Especially if he had already gotten himself in too deep. Hadn’t he said something similar before?

“Do you really think it’ll come to that?” she had to ask, though she didn’t want to know the answer.  “Will they really join?” She didn’t relish the idea of fighting against her classmates, even the likes of Hux and Phasma.

He shrugged.  “We joined, didn’t we?  Who’s to say they won’t either?  Many of them have parents among the Death Eaters.  I’d say some have already joined, more will the minute war breaks out.”

“Ben doesn’t have parents in the Death Eaters,” Rey said, although she knew that meant nothing in this war.  Neither did her best friend, yet here he sat, a scar on his forehead given to him by his own parents.

“His family’s status makes Ben a high-priority target.  Just think of it. I know a little bit about Snoke from my parents.”  He shuddered at the name. “And I know he wanted Solo desperately. And that man is a hard one to break away from.”

Rey didn’t want to think that through all the way.  Luckily, at that moment, another Patronus bloomed over the crowd of students.  Rose grinned as an enormous lioness leapt from the end of her outstretched wand and bounded over the heads of the assembled class.  Poe gaped at her lion, red in the face watching his own coveted Patronus sprout from his friend’s wand. Rose grinned, received her congratulations from Professor Organa, and joined them on the side.

“Did you see that?” she squealed.  Rey leaned over to congratulate her on her Patronus.

As the silvery light of Rose’s Patronus faded, Poe screwed up his face in stubborn concentration.  Rey thought it was sheer stubbornness that made him do it. Perhaps he had broken through some mental barrier of his own.  Regardless, he called out the incantation and an enormous shape burst from his wand. It started out small, so small she thought, to her great amusement, that he had conjured a snake, but in a moment it had grown nearly to the size of the room.  She and the other students gaped at the enormous occamy that snapped its beak overhead.

“Holy shit,” she said, a thought echoed by Rose.  Finn watched the Patronus grow with a small smile on his face, as if it didn’t surprise him in the least.

“That,” she heard Professor Organa say to him.  “Is quite a Patronus.”

It wasn’t a lion like he’d hoped, but Poe did not seem the least bit disappointed as he joined them with an enormous grin on his face.


	32. Yuletide Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Yule Ball arrives and brings boatloads of drama with it.

The day of the Yule Ball dawned.  Rey could say this with some certainty, although she did not see the sun for much of it.  She’d gotten up early, per usual, to fly a few laps around the Hogwarts grounds. When she returned, her face red and raw from the chill wind, Rose appropriated her at once, scolding her for missing out on even one second of the Day of the Yule Ball.  Rey remembered what a fuss they’d all made about it the year before, but she realized now that she had understated its intensity. According to Rose, she was not to leave the girls’ dorm until it was time for the Yule Ball, with the sole exception of meals.  

“The whole day?” she repeated, staring between Rose, Hannah, and Eliza as if they had grown, collectively, six heads.  “We’re going to stay up here…the whole day?”

Hannah rolled her eyes.  “ _ Yes _ , Rey, won’t it be fun?”

Rey had to admit that Hogwarts had given her some education in this respect.  She had grown up in her orphanage and none of them had anything extra to put towards beauty regimes or even much in the way of makeup.  Few of the girls could even apply eyeliner. Her roommates had rapidly acquainted her with the customs. While she had to admit that she liked the outcome, the process still mystified her.

“I don’t remember our hair taking all day last year.  I’m sure I would have remembered that,” she said, eyeing the vanity already equipped with every product they could possibly need, both muggle and magical.

“It won’t,” Eliza assured her.  “What they mean is they want us to hole up here and play games and gossip and things before we go down to the Yule Ball.”

“I brought loads of chocolate,” Rose added, nodding along with Eliza’s explanation.

“Oh,” Rey said, her concern falling off her like a cloak.  “Like a daytime slumber party. Why did you just say so? Merlin, I thought you were going to poke and prod me all day.”

“What’s a slumber party?” Rose asked.  Eliza ushered them on before they could get any more bogged down in the specifics of unclear communication.

Instead, they found themselves piled on assorted cushions and blankets, eating excessive amounts of chocolate, both magical and muggle, and talking about anything and everything.  Rey found herself grinning from ear to ear, the kind of thing that had escaped her these past few weeks. The darkness of Snoke and his Death Eaters seemed far away.

“So, anyway,” Hannah said, trying to contain her laughter and only making herself snort instead.  “I threw an entire pint of Butterbeer in his face for suggesting I couldn’t play Quidditch! Every time I walk in the room now, he runs out the other way.”

They dissolved into laughter, even though Rey remembered Hannah telling that story back when it happened in fifth year.  She took another chocolate frog and caught it before it hopped off. Eliza flipped herself over onto her back and stared at their painted ceiling, still shaking with laughter.

“You know,” she said.  “I’m so glad we don’t have all those bloody tests this year!”

Rose gave her a mock gasp of horror.  “You? Eliza Mohapatra,  _ you _ are glad we don’t have tests?  I never thought I’d see the day.”

Eliza rolled her eyes at Rose.  “I don’t  _ like _ taking tests.  Just because I like studying doesn’t mean I like taking tests.  Rey likes studying too. Merlin, she’s going to be a Cursebreaker.”

“Maybe,” Rey reminded her.  “If I make it through this year in Runes.  Most Cursebreakers have at least one wizarding parent.  It’s rare to get in without that.”

Hannah knocked her shoulder with hers.  “Cheer up, Rey! You’re brilliant. You’ll get recommendation letters from Organa  _ and _ Kenobi  _ and _ Skywalker...what could be better than that?  You’ll get in for sure.”

Rey shrugged, far from certain, but decided not to push it any further.  Today was not the day to dwell on her uncertain future or the career options open to Muggleborns.  If Snoke succeeded even partly in his mission, there would be  _ no _ career options for Muggleborns.  She pushed that thought out of her mind before her mood could darken.

“Oh!” Rose said, sitting up again.  “We’ll run out of time if we don’t start getting ready soon!”

When Rey entered the Hufflepuff common room hours later, she felt like a whole new person.  Her friends walked with her, as transformed as she herself. Rey had borrowed a floor-length green dress from Rose, and the girls had worked together to tailor it to fit her instead.  She had to admit, Hannah and Rose had become accomplished in that area. The three other girls were equally stunning: Rose in a long light blue dress, Hannah in a shorter red one, and Eliza a dark blue, glittery lehenga that left her midriff bare.

Rose said she’d see them later and detached herself to join Melshi, who stared at her as if someone had knocked him about the head.  Rey grinned to herself. Various couples met up in the Hufflepuff common room and prepared to head downstairs for the ball. Other nervous boys milled around the room, tugging at the collars of their dress robes and looking at their feet.  Rey turned to her two other roommates.

“Right, can I walk down with you or will I be too much of a third wheel?” she asked.

Hannah colored at once and her eyes widened.  “Third...third wheel?” she stammered. “What do you mean?”

Rey rolled her eyes.  “You’re each other’s dates, right?”

Hannah didn’t seem capable of forming a coherent sentence.  Eliza laid a hand over hers and looked back at Rey solidly. “Yes, we are.”

“Okay,” Rey said.  “So, can I walk down with you?”

“Of course,” Eliza said with a smile.  Hannah managed a nod, her face still redder than a tomato.

Rey left the common room with her two friends, giving a pink-cheeked Rose a small wave.  Eliza walked beside her and chatted on the way, but Hannah still walked with her shoulders tense and her spine straight.  Finally, when they had gone about half of the way down to the Great Hall, she whirled on Rey, stopping them all in their tracks.

“How did you know?” she demanded.  Eliza’s mouth twitched as if she only avoided laughing with effort.

Rey’s eyebrows knotted.  Hannah didn’t seem angry, exactly, but had high red spots on her cheeks and wide eyes.  Rey shrugged. “I thought you two had been together for a while. I’m sorry if I assumed.”

She had always considered herself pretty perceptive, especially when it came to the feelings of others around her.  But she had been blindsided so often in the past few weeks that she found herself questioning whether she really was at all.  Hannah softened a little at her words. “I...really? You thought we were together already?”

“Well,” Rey hesitated.  “I mean...yeah, I did. Judging from your reaction, though, I was wrong.  So, I’m sorry.”

Eliza laid a hand on her arm.  “It’s alright, Rey. You weren’t wrong.  It’s just the first time we’ve been open about this.”

Hannah nodded, now wringing her hands.  “And...you don’t mind? Living in the same room and all?”

“Not at all,” Rey assured them.  “I’m happy for you. I just don’t want to ruin your date by being a third wheel.”

“No,” Hannah said, a little distractedly.  “You’re not.”

Eliza said something quiet into her ear, and she nodded, smiling a little.  They resumed their walk down to the Great Hall and didn’t say another word about it, but Eliza and Hannah walked with their fingers interlaced between them.  Rey smiled to herself and tried to act normal. At least two of her friends had figured out the intricacies of romantic relationships. She had some hope for Rose and Melshi as well.  Seeing the way he looked at her...for the first time, Rey found herself wishing that someone would look at her that way. Like the glances Hannah and Eliza snuck of each other when they thought she wasn’t looking.

And, for the first time, Rey thought she could admit to herself that she wanted one person in particular to look at her that way.

Except Ben Solo had not asked her to the Yule Ball.  

She tried to push that thought out of her mind as they entered the cavernous and newly transformed Great Hall.  It always amazed her what they did to it every year for the Yule Ball. The suspended candles had been replaced with enormous chandeliers of ice hung by invisible tethers to the ceiling.  Icicles hung from almost every available surface, yet somehow the room remained comfortable enough for her sleeveless dress.

Chewie had brought in the usual twelve Christmas trees and decorated them.  She spied one for each house among them and resolved to get a better look at the house trees later.  It looked like some had been decorated for the various classes around Hogwarts as well. The one nearest to her bore distinct decorations made from potions bottles and ingredients.  She could spy one adorned with what looked like feathers.

The overall effect transformed the Great Hall into a masterpiece of winter and Christmas cheer.  Rey had always loved Christmas, despite their rather bleak attempts at festive joy at the orphanage.  Christmas at Hogwarts probably had a lot to do with it.

About half of the students had already congregated in the Great Hall when she and her friends arrived.  She almost laughed as a group of first years ran by tugging at the collars of their dress robes. Without their uniforms, they could have belonged to any house.  The students tended to forget about house barriers during the Yule Ball. Even she could not identify the house affiliation of most outside of her own year. She spied at least one Ravenclaw dancing with a Gryffindor.

“Looking for someone?” Finn said into her ear, making her jump.  He gave her a wide grin. “He came in a few feet behind me.”

Rey studiously avoided turning to look.  “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” she answered with a huff, trying not to wonder if he had entered with anyone on his arm.

Finn threw an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side.  “Come on, Rey. You can’t pretend around me.”

“And where’s Poe tonight?” she fired back with an innocent smile.  

He shrugged in a false display of nonchalance that wouldn’t have fooled a blind man.  “Arriving soon, I assume.” He shook his head. “How about a dance?”

He held out his hand with a broad smile.  “Why do you do this to me? You know I’m a rotten dancer.”

Finn picked her hand up when she didn’t immediately place it in his.  “You,” he said, bowing to kiss her hand and making her burst out laughing.  “Are a perfectly mediocre dancer.”

Her laugh deepened.  “A rousing commendation from my best friend.”

Finn pulled her towards the dancefloor, as he inevitably did every year, and things almost felt like normal.  No war, no romantic drama, no Ben Solo clouding her thoughts.

“I can’t lie to you,” he said.  “Oh, come on! You’re just fine.”

“Not compared to all you purebloods born with silver dancing shoes on your feet,” she retorted, but allowed herself to be pulled into his arms for the dance.

Finn Zabini did dance with all the skill of his pureblood heritage and probably obscenely expensive lessons.  In the end, Rey had little to contribute. She soon found herself relaxing into his arms and the gentle sway of the dance.  The music was nice, on the classical side for the first two hours to appease the older generation. She looked forward to the cover band that would play later and give her something to at least jump around to.  She could do that much.

Over Finn’s shoulder, Rey caught sight of none other than Ben Solo, watching the dancefloor--really, he looked like he was staring straight at her--with stricken attention.  He turned abruptly, almost into the drinks table, as if he intended to leave and quit the Yule Ball already. Thankfully, Phasma interrupted him before he could do so. Rey’s relief soon evaporated when he led the tall blonde out onto the dancefloor.  Merlin, he could dance well too. Was there anything that Ben Solo could  _ not _ do well?  She stepped on Finn’s foot.

They brushed passed Rose and Melshi as Finn forgave her for bruising his toes.  Rose didn’t even look at them or waste a single, lingering glance on Finn. The same could not be said for Poe, who stood at the edge of the dancefloor wearing a face very much like he had been confounded.  

The dance ended.  Finn deposited her on the edge of the dancefloor and kissed her hand again, just to make her roll her eyes at him.  Poe turned a vibrant shade of red and turned away, colliding into Jyn Erso as he did. She had a sharp word on her tongue for his blunder, as she always did, but turned to Cassian in confusion when Poe just pushed passed them without a word.  Jyn somehow spotted them and forged a hardfought path to them.

“What’s wrong with Dameron?” she demanded.  “Did you have a row?”

Rey looked between her and Finn, at a loss as to how she should explain the complex situation without leaking too much.  Finn, however, saved himself. “He’s been out of sorts these past few weeks. You know, Snoke and all. I think it might be getting to him.”

Jyn didn’t look entirely convinced.  She glanced over her shoulder at Poe, but he had receded to the drink table, where he stood downing something that was decidedly  _ not  _ firewhisky.  Cassian spoke before she could.  “Understandable. We’re all a bit on edge, I think, and his parents are in the middle of it.”

Jyn snapped her mouth shut and nodded.  Finn had lost every last shred of happiness he’d had on the dancefloor.  Rey decided she needed a drink.

She departed with a hasty goodbye and dove into the crowd of students.  They parted for her slowly. She could only focus on putting one foot in front of the other.  She deeply, fervently wished her friends could leave the drama well enough alone for  _ one bloody night _ .  Rey had done it.  She never involved herself in any sort of drama.  Somehow, Poe just kept digging himself deeper and deeper into his hole and Finn seemed either content to let him or too oblivious to understand.  At least Rose seemed happy. Merlin willing, she wouldn’t get into a fight with Melshi. One night, she swore, one night she would have boatloads of drama and make the rest of them sort her out.  One night…

Rey drew up suddenly, confronted with an unmovable force in the form of Ben Solo himself.  He stared down at her with dark eyes. His hair, which she was sure had been perfectly styled back when he’d arrived, looked as if he’d been running his hands through it a few times.

“Rey,” he said, as startled as she.  He opened his mouth as if to speak, thought better of it, and cleared his throat.  When he spoke again, he sounded half-choked. “I didn’t know you were dating Zabini.  Congratulations.”

Color rose to his cheeks.  Rey stood there, dumbfounded at what had just left his mouth.  Before she could sort out exactly what to respond to that, he turned and vanished into the crowd.  She tried to follow him, to call him back, to explain that she had never even  _ considered _ fancying Finn, but a few Gryffindor fifth years blocked her.  She craned on her toes but could not make his form out anywhere.  

She would find him in a moment, she decided, when she’d found a drink.  At this point, she hoped Skywalker had loosened up and included firewhisky.  When she reached the drinks table, however, she could see at once that none of that amber liquid stood on it.  She settled for a butterbeer.

“You could have told me,” someone said from just behind her.  She turned to see Poe, his bow tie undone, red rims around his eyes.  “I’m fine, you know, if you want to date him. But you could have at least told me.”

Her mind spun.  Had he seen her with Ben and assumed something?  “Date who?”

Poe leveled her with a glare.  “So, that’s how it’s going to be is it?  Merlin, I shouldn’t have told you how I felt about him.  I thought you’d understand, not...fuck, not poach him for yourself.”

Rey caught up.  However, she was rapidly running out of patience with people assuming she was dating Finn.  Had it really looked like that? “What the hell, Poe?”

“I don’t want to hear it, Rey,” he snapped and stomped away.  Rey stared after her friend. Across the room, she spotted Ben staring at one of the Christmas trees.  How had things gone downhill so quickly?

Shit.


	33. Yuletide Joy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey hates drama. She is also too stubborn to let anything lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you could all bear the torture of the last cliffhanger. And enjoy the resolution of this one. Let me know what you think :)

Rey downed half of her butterbeer in the span of thirty seconds and hoped there was enough alcohol to at least take the edge off of the night.  Not that she needed to be drunk or even tipsy. No, she wanted to be in her right mind to deal with the shitstorm that had just descended on her life, but a  _ little _ alcohol could help.  No luck. She sighed and followed that up with a groan.

_ Alright, _ she told herself.   _ You’re in a real pickle here, Rey.  Where do you start? _   She thought for a moment.  She could not let this miscommunication go on.  It would only get worse the longer the night wore on.  Finn still stood across the room, chatting with Jyn and Cassian and blissfully unaware what new problem had just sprung up.  She had to deal with this. Now. As unpalatable as that sounded.  

She would tackle one problem at a time.  The first and most immediate presented itself to her in the form of Poe, who stalked the outer edges of the room with a red face.  Ben Solo continued to stare at the wall beside the Christmas tree.  

Poe had been wrestling with his feelings for the better part of a month.  If he really thought two of his best friends had gotten together behind his back, it would destroy him.  Quickly and probably loudly and very soon. Ben Solo, on the other hand, had not acknowledged any feelings for her.  He clearly felt  _ something _ about this revelation, but did it come down to his personal dislike of Finn?  Or did it have more to do with her? She could sort that out later, as long as he didn’t leave the Yule Ball early.

Right, she had a plan.  Deal with Poe first and make sure Ben didn’t leave the Yule Ball so she could deal with him second.  

She could do this.  Ben looked set to stare at the Christmas tree for hours if left to his own devices.

Rey made a beeline for Finn, who stood exactly where she’d left him.  She grabbed an extra butterbeer for him and headed that way. Jyn raised her eyebrows at whatever she saw on Rey’s face as she approached.  

“Rey,” Jyn said as soon as she got within range.  “I’m still waiting to hear the story of how you convinced Solo to play for your team.  Cassian assured me it was impossible.”

“And I’m still not living it down,” he said, rolling his eyes.  “Thanks for accomplishing the impossible, Rey. Now I owe Jyn three bottles of firewhisky.”

“We’ll see if that’s enough for me to forgive you,” Jyn said, tilting her face up to him.

“Sorry, Jyn, team secrets.  Speaking of which, can I talk to you, Finn?” she rushed out.  Jyn raised her eyebrows at her tone but grabbed Cassian by the sleeve and towed him out onto the dancefloor, leaving them blissfully alone.  Except for all the other people surrounding them, of course.  

Rey hauled Finn a little farther out of the crowd.  He stared down at her, his brows knitted together. “Is the talk about the team really so urgent?  And why are you holding two butterbeers?”

“Oh, one’s for you.”  She handed his off without a second glance.  “And yes, it is important. It’s about Poe.”

Finn’s face shuttered at once.  “I don’t want to talk about this right now, Rey.”

“Too bad,” she barrelled on.  “You have to. I just ran into him at the drinks table.  He thinks we’re dating, Finn.”

“He  _ what? _ ”  Finn’s face went from blank to appalled in the span of two seconds.

“I guess he saw us dancing and jumped to conclusions.  He’s not the only one. I ran into Ben on my way over.”  Finn groaned and ran a hand over his face. “He’s furious, of course.  Poe, I mean.”

“Do you want to deal with Ben first?” he asked, his eyes softening.  “Poe might take a while.” Rey shook her head. “I suppose you didn’t set either of them straight?”

“I tried.  I was so surprised.  And they walked off before I could say much of anything.”  She lifted her hands to run them through her hair before she remembered that it was wound up on her head and doing so would destroy it beyond repair.  “We have to do something.”

“Alright, alright,” he said.  His shoulders slumped. “Let’s go talk to Poe then.”

He was easy to spot, still prowling the edges of the crowd like a caged tiger.  They marched up to him side by side. Rey glanced over her shoulder and confirmed that Ben remained in the room, although he had moved on to another Christmas tree closer to the door.  Poe’s color deepened almost to purple when he saw them.

“I don’t want to talk to either of you, bloody traitors,” Poe snapped and turned to leave.  Finn didn’t let him go far. His hand clamped down like a vise on Poe’s arm. Poe wheeled back, his hand curled into a fist as if to punch his friend and roommate, but he didn’t raise it.  “What the hell? Get off me.”

“No,” Finn snapped, his eyes dark.  “You’re being a damned idiot, Poe, and you’ve been a damned idiot for the past month and I’m tired of dealing with your shit, so you’re going to stand here and talk.”

Rey raised her eyebrows at him but did not intervene.  When she had enlisted Finn’s help, this was not the tactic she had expected him to take.  But she couldn’t exactly blame him for it. She decided to stay silent until her input was necessary.

“Fine,” Poe growled.  “I suppose if you two want to date, that’s fine.  Is that why you’ve been so pissy to me recently?”

“First, you fucking prick, Rey and I are not dating.  Second, I have not been pissy with you, I have been upset, Poe,” Finn continued, his mouth a hard line.  “And in the last month, you have still not figured out why that is.”

“Why is it, then?” Poe challenged.

“That is not the problem right now.  Unless that’s the reason you decided to overreact for no reason tonight,” he said.

Poe’s shoulders slumped.  Rey leaned forward a little.  Once again, they had reached the crux of the matter again.  Neither of them would say the thing that haunted both of them.  That was the real problem. For the first time, Poe’s eyes dropped from Finn’s face.

“I suppose...I suppose I’ve been a little on edge,” Poe admitted, his eyes still trained in the vicinity of Finn’s shoes.  “But I haven’t been able to figure out why you’re upset with me.”

The silent moment stretched on.  Finally, when it seemed Finn would or could not speak up, Rey decided she couldn’t bear it anymore.  “Poe,” she nudged gently. “When did all this start?”

“The night of the Quidditch match,” he answered right away.  “We won...and I never even saw you.”

Okay, halfway there.  “What  _ else _ happened that night?”

Poe scrunched up his eyebrows.  “I had a lot of firewhisky. I made too many announcements.  I…” Rey saw it when understanding dawned on his face. “I snogged Jess Pava.”  He shook his head. “I don’t understand. Do you  _ fancy _ Jess?  You could’ve told me.  It’s not like we’re together or anything.  She wanted to go on a date or something the next week and I told her I just wasn’t into it...”

“You did?  You’re not…?” Finn asked.

Poe shook his head.  “No, we never were together.”  He winced. “Tough luck, though, mate, I think she’s with Davies now.  I saw them snogging a couple weeks ago.”

Relief washed over Finn’s face as poignantly as it had over Poe’s.  Rey bounced on her toes. So close. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about Jess Pava.  No offense to her.”

Poe was less relieved than confused.  “But then...why…?”

Rey decided to prompt them along just one more time.  “Poe, why were you upset about the idea about us dating?”  She gestured between herself and a frankly terrified-looking Finn.  “Do you fancy me?”

“What?” Poe answered at once.  “No, of course not. No offense, Rey.  I...”

The conclusion reached both of them at once.  She could see it all over them: Finn’s utter relief, Poe’s total disbelief.  They stood paralyzed in the new information for a few heartbeats. Rey took a few subtle steps back.

“Oh, you bloody idiot,” Finn sighed and all but tugged Poe’s face towards his.  Poe met him halfway. They kissed at the edge of the Great Hall without a care for who saw them.  

After a moment, Rey nudged them a little to remind them that they still stood in a crowd of students and right beside her.  They broke apart with furious blushes on both sides. With a small grin, she slipped away and let them discuss the finer points of their mutual idiocy together.  She had business of her own to take care of.

In the heat of the conversation, she had forgotten to keep tabs on Ben Solo.  Now, she fretted when she didn’t find him staring absently at one of the many Christmas trees in the hall.  Had he gone back to his common room already? Would she not be able to set the record straight after all? Would he avoid her throughout the Christmas holidays?

No, she finally spotted his mass of black hair across the room.  But he was headed for the door.  

Rey ducked through the crowd and fought to squeeze herself through any gap she could find, not caring whose foot she stepped on, until she appeared by the doors.  He had just gone through, but the door had not even had time to swing shut again yet. She caught it and darted out into the deserted Entrance Hall.

“Ben!” she called.  He stopped at the sound of her voice, already halfway to the stairs that would take him down to the Slytherin dorms.  He turned slowly to face her, his face more closed off than it had been in weeks. She stopped when she stood only a foot from him, her head tilted back to look at his.  “Where are you going?”

“Thought I’d turn in for the night,” he said, shrugging as if it were the most normal thing in the world.  For him, a year ago, it probably was. Not now.

Rey did not know where she got her courage.  Maybe it stemmed from her friends finally finding romantic success all around her.  Maybe it was from sheer stubbornness. Maybe she was sick of waiting on him. Before she could think too carefully, she said, “But I haven’t even danced with you yet.”

Ben Solo looked down at her as if he had never seen anything quite like her before.  “You want to dance with me?” She nodded and refused to lose her nerve. “I don’t think your boyfriend would like that much.”

She cocked her head to one side, a smile on her lips.  “About that,” she said. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Never have, actually.  Definitely not Finn. As a matter of fact, if you hadn’t been so focused on escaping the dance, you would have seen him snogging Poe.  You see, I’m not his type, as it turns out.”

The expressions that crossed Ben’s face were almost comedic.  He finally settled on one of such profound relief that it knocked the breath out of her.  Because she  _ recognized _ that look.  And although it may have taken her a while to see it, just as it had for her friends, she was not going to forget it.  Maybe she and Ben would not have their moment of understanding that night, as Poe and Finn had, but it would happen. Of that, she was certain.

“So,” Rey said, at the same time calm and anxious.  “About that dance?”

His dark eyes bore into hers.  He nodded. She took his hand and led him back into the Great Hall to claim her dance with Ben Solo.


	34. A Little Bit of Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Christmas holidays arrive at Hogwarts and find things much different than they were before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, readers! I hope you're still enjoying this story. A big thank you to everyone who has commented. I'm hoping to get to those comments just after I post this story, but so many of you have said such nice things that I don't know if I can do them all in one sitting. But, thanks! :)

“I can’t believe you danced with Ben Solo,” Rose said for the fortieth time as Rey walked down with her to the Entrance Hall.  “You’re sure he didn’t coerce you?”

“I promise, Rose, no coercion was involved.  You can reassure Poe and Finn of that as well.  No coercion. In fact, I asked him,” Rey reassured her friend.

Rose’s eyes, if possible, widened.  “Why would you do that, Rey? You don’t even like the guy?  I mean, I can tell he’s a great dancer, but so is Finn.”

“Believe it or not, Rosie, I wanted to dance with him.  Let that sink in and you can write me the longest letter ever about it when you get home,” she said as they reached the doors and therefore their place of parting.

Rose clung to her hands and was diverted from her line of questioning.  “Are you  _ sure _ you don’t want to come home with us?  I’m sure we can make room for you somewhere.”

Rey smiled, genuinely grateful for the offer.  She had signed up to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, however, and stay she would.  She told Rose as much for the fiftieth time that morning. “You’ll just have to write me every word,” she said.

“I will,” Rose answered.  “And you do the same! Especially if anything interesting happens!  I want to hear about everything! Even the boring stuff. But especially how much you liked my present.”

Rey bid her goodbye with a tight hug and many promises to write.  She did the same to Poe and Finn, who managed to detach their permanently linked hands to return her hugs.  Finally, Rey stood at the door on her own and watched her friends walk down to the Hogsmeade Station. She thought, perhaps, that she should have felt sad without her friends for Christmas, but she couldn’t deny her excitement.

And there was Ben to consider.  She couldn’t deny that she looked forward to the time alone she would have with him.  So, really, she still had at least one friend at Hogwarts.  

Her friends had not stopped bothering her about the dance she shared with Ben at the Yule Ball.  With Rose and Poe, the comments had been incredulous, bordering on the absurd, what with their accusations of mind control and coercion.  Finn had taken the opportunity to take the piss at her expense. She knew he was happy for her, especially so in the wake of his burgeoning relationship with Poe.

The dance...was another matter entirely.  As Rose had said, Ben was a phenomenal dancer, true to his posh upbringing as the son of Leia Organa.  She certainly hadn’t expected that out of him. Nor had she expected how gentle he was with her the whole time, guiding her with barely a touch or the slightest pressure.  With him she felt as if she could dance also. It was effortless. And he had smiled at her. Really, truly smiled, with that big, toothy grin he got when he couldn’t hide it anymore.  

Rey  _ had _ expected the stares they’d gotten from other students.  Hux and Phasma’s had been particularly dark. They talked for a while after the dance, but when she’d gone to get another butterbeer, Hux and Phasma had made a beeline for him.  She shuddered to consider what they had said, but Ben had refused to say a word about it.

She would see Ben over the holiday, that was certain.  And she would figure out what that look he’d given her in the entrance hall meant.  With any luck, she’d have a lot of news to write to her friends by the time the holiday ended.

Now, the castle and its grounds lay open to her.  The sun shone outside and its uncharacteristic heat had melted the last remnants of snow, leaving the grass a little muddy but clear.  Although she hoped the snow would return in time for Christmas, she reveled in the relative warmth. She longed to be outside.  

Less than an hour after her friends had disappeared down to Hogsmeade, Rey stepped outside with her broom in hand.  She tilted her face up to the sun and grinned. Her broom shot into the air as if it too had missed the warmth of the sun through the long winter days.  The air still chilled her a little as it crept through the holes in her old Quidditch sweater, but the sensation was easily ignored when she shot upwards near the spires of the castle.  

The grounds opened beneath her like a fallen tapestry.  A few students had gathered by the Black Lake to enjoy the warmth on a spread blanket.  A few indistinguishable shapes wheeled over the Forbidden Forest and dove back into its depths.  Even the Whomping Willow stood still in the morning light. She let out a cry of joy and banked close to the roof of the Astronomy Tower, so close that she could brush her hand against its shingles.  She turned towards the Quidditch Pitch. She had no mind to play today, either tossing a Quaffle around or chasing a snitch just for fun. She just wanted to fly.  

As she came out of her route weaving through the towers that sat the students during the matches, she spotted something towards the other end of the pitch.  Or, rather, someone, for it was unmistakably another student out for a fly on his broom. Curious to see what other Quidditch player had stayed behind for the holidays, she turned her broom towards the other end of the pitch.

When she neared the hovering figure, the green and silver sweater and rippling scarf of the same colors came into view.  By the time she pulled up mere meters away, she recognized none other than Ben Solo, eyeing her broom with a small grin.

“I sure hope you’re not waiting for Slytherin Quidditch practice,” she called to him over the rustling of the wind.  “I have some bad news for you.”

His grin turned into a full-blown smile.  Rey remembered a time when she didn’t know what Ben Solo’s smile even looked like.  She grinned back. “No,” he answered. “My common room is wonderfully empty.”

She drew her broom a little closer to his so they didn’t have to shout so much over the wind.  “You mean it? Not a single Slytherin stayed for the holidays?”

He shrugged.  “I think there’s a third year planning on camping out in the Hufflepuff common room for the entire holiday.”

Rey nodded, remembering the conversation she’d had with the girl weeks before.  “Hannah Prewett. She asked for permission.”

“So, there you have it.  A blissfully empty common room.”

She thought for a moment, considering her words carefully before blurting them out anyway.  “Does that mean I can make another visit to your common room?”

Ben raised his eyebrows at her.  “Do you want to?”

She shrugged, pretending nonchalance even though butterflies had sprung up in her stomach.  “I want to get a better look at the Black Lake. I’ve always been curious what’s in there.”

“Alright,” he said after a moment.  “I suppose that could be arranged, as long as you don’t tell anyone about it.”

She leaned back and made an exaggerated crossing motion across her chest.  “I swear on my life that even under torture I will tell everyone the Slytherin common room is a mystery of the highest degree.”  

He stuck his tongue out at her.  Rey laughed. 

“You owe me a trip to your common room then,” he said.

It was her turn to be surprised.  “You want to come to the Hufflepuff common room?”

He shrugged.  “You seem to like it.  There must be something worthwhile about it.”

Rey felt a surge of pride at that assessment.  “Sure,” she answered. “But I’m not done flying yet.  What do you say, Solo? Fancy a trip over the Forbidden Forest?”

He rolled his eyes at her.  “You don’t know what’s in there.”

“Don’t worry, Solo, I’ve done it plenty of times.  I’ve been inside the Forbidden Forest and everything and look,” she said, throwing her arms out dramatically.  “I’m still in one piece. You’re not  _ scared _ , are you, Solo?”

“Fine,” he said, steering his broom around hers and towards the wide expanse of trees.  “But if something jumps up and eats you, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Oh and if we get in trouble, I’m throwing you under the bus, no hesitation.”

“Aren’t you a gentleman?” she said and sped ahead of him over the forest.  As the first trees rushed past beneath her broom, nothing leapt out of the greenery to attack her.  Solo easily kept up with her.

“That’s the way everyone describes me,” he drawled, making her laugh again.

She marveled at how companionable her time with Ben had become.  They flew far across the forest, until they neared the other side of it, where the barriers and protections of Hogwarts ended and the muggle world began.  They turned without a word and headed back towards the grounds, making lazy laps over the Black Lake. Rey leaned down from her broom to drag her hand over the water and leave a trail in her wake.  A few fish with scales that glittered every color in the sunlight leapt after them from the water.  

By the time they landed their brooms near the doors of Hogwarts, lunch had already started.  They went to the Great Hall together, not caring when several students stared as they entered together with their brooms.

~  ~ ~

Rey closed her book for a moment and kept her finger in its pages to hold her place.  She tilted her head back against the cushions of the couch and stared out at the wavering sunlight that filtered through the greenish water of the lake.  They had been there for hours and so far only a few fish had bothered to swim by the glass. It didn’t matter much to her. She liked the light that filtered into the room through the haze of the lake and the couch was comfortable and the company…

She looked over to where Ben still sat absorbed in his book.  They’d made themselves a nest of sorts, far from any prying eyes.  Not that there were any. True to Ben’s word, the list pinned near the common room fire held only two names and one of them had taken up temporary residence in the Hufflepuff common room.  They had the cathedral-like space to themselves. So, they’d seized blankets from other parts of the room, curled up near the window, and taken to reading.  

And somehow, three hours later, Rey had her feet pillowed in Ben’s lap, bright yellow and black Hufflepuff socks and all.  She still couldn’t exactly say how that had happened. Only he didn’t seem to mind as he sat absorbed in his own book.  

She grinned at the enormous wall of water in front of her as, finally, a small grindylow swam by, its wide-set green eyes gleaming.  When she looked down towards the other end of the couch again, she met Ben’s eyes. He held his book still in his hands as if he had fully intended to return to reading but had gotten distracted by something else.  The openness in his eyes scared her a little bit.

“I’m still a little jealous, you know,” Rey said.  His only response was to raise his eyebrows at her.  “You have such a beautiful common room down here and you keep it hidden from everyone else.  It’s cruel, really.”

“Well,” he reasoned, placing his bookmark between the pages of his novel and setting it aside.  He turned to face her a little better. “It wasn’t my choice.”

She pretended to consider that for a moment.  “Fair enough. Whose was it, then? Krennic? Hux?  I’ll happily curse either of them for the injustice of keeping all of this locked away.”

“That would necessitate you informing them that you’ve been down here, which would backfire rather quickly on me,” he said, resting his elbow on the couch a short ways from her head.  Merlin, she wished she were closer. What stopped her?

In response, she shook her head.  “Like I need an excuse to hex either of them.  I don’t have to tell them  _ why _ I’m doing it.  I think they’ve wracked up enough ill-will from me to merit it anyway.”

He tilted his head back, taking in the common room with its vaulted ceilings, shelves of books, and, of course, that enormous wall of water.  Ben was quiet for a moment. “I suppose I never thought my common room was worth hexing someone over.”

“It is,” she said and meant it.  “It’s beautiful, Ben. Every part of it is so wonderful.  I appreciate it even more now than I did before.” She looked back to him and met his dark eyes.  “When you first brought me down here, that Halloween weekend, I was honestly a little afraid at what I might see.  Some sort of creepy dungeon with chains on the walls. A replica of the Potions dungeon.” He grinned at the image.  “An enormous portrait of Hagar the Horrible over the mantle. But it was so much more than I ever expected.” She tilted her head as a thought occurred to her.  “Kind of like you.”

He flushed then, all the way up to the roots of his dark hair, coloring his large ears a vibrant shade.  He tore his eyes away from hers and looked around again. “I’m glad you like it so much. I was nervous to bring an outsider here as well.  But I think you made me see it in a different way. I think I got used to it after a while. I forget how beautiful it is.” 

“It truly is.  And I think it suits the Slytherin House.  The real Slytherin, not the mockery everyone thinks it is now.”

Ben didn’t look at her as he spoke.  “There’s something else about the common room that I haven’t told you yet.”  Rey sat up a little straighter and leaned in to catch every word. Something weighty had taken up residence in his voice.  “To a Slytherin, the room will always feel like the perfect temperature, whatever that is to that person. But, to an outsider, the room is usually on the chilly side, just enough to be uncomfortable.”

Rey’s forehead wrinkled.  “I don’t remember it ever being cold in here.  And I’m no Slytherin. Maybe it’s just a legend.”

He looked at her then, his dark eyes unreadable.  “It’s chilly for most outsiders. It’s perfectly warm for anyone who has a deep and enduring bond with a Slytherin, enough that the common room does not even consider him an outsider.”

Rey’s heart had stopped.  She was sure of it. What he’d just admitted to her...it was a little terrifying.  And thrilling too. To think that she, Hufflepuff’s golden girl as the Slytherins sometimes called her, had wormed her way into Ben’s heart.  And not just now, months after they had called themselves friends. Already by Halloween he had considered her a friend. “That Halloween weekend,” she said softly.  “You apologized for the room being cold.”

He nodded.  “And you answered that it wasn’t.”  She remembered the look on his face.  The way he had frozen in his tracks and his eyes had widened.  Now, he nodded. “I think that was the first time I realized I had grown to care about you.  More than as just an ally. A partner. A friend. A…”

There, he stopped and looked away.  Rey removed her feet from his lap and slid a little closer to him.  “A what, Ben?” she asked softly.  

Merlin, he was so close.  His face hovered just inches from her.  When he spoke again, she could feel his breath ghost against her cheek.  “I don’t know,” he whispered, fear in his eyes.

And Ben Solo kissed her.

Rey had never been kissed before.  Until that year, she hadn’t really even thought about being kissed.  She had so many other things to worry about, and it didn’t seem that important at the time.  Until she found herself getting closer with Ben Solo and suddenly it didn’t seem so unimportant anymore.

So, Rey couldn’t say that she hadn’t imagined that moment before, maybe even fantasized about it a little.  

The reality, however, was nothing like her fantasies.  For one, it was over in the span of two seconds. Ben didn’t seem to know what he was doing either.  In short, it was everything a first kiss is usually: awkward, clumsy, and  _ nice. _

Ben broke the kiss almost at once and put more space between them than she would have liked.  She got a brief glimpse of his wide eyes in the metaphorical headlights before he dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

“I’m sorry, Rey,” he said without daring to look up.  “Merlin, I’m such an idiot.”

“Ben,” she said softly.  He didn’t look up. “ _ Ben _ ,” she repeated, more forcefully.  He jerked his head up in surprise and finally looked at her.  “What’s wrong?”

“I…”  His brows knitted.  “I ruined everything...didn’t I?”

She couldn’t help it.  She rolled her eyes. “You’re right.  You  _ are  _ an idiot.”  He didn’t seem to understand.  “You didn’t ruin anything. I  _ liked _ it, Ben.”

“Wait,” he said, understanding slowly dawning.  “You...you wanted me to kiss you?”

Rey rolled her eyes again and nodded.  “I wanted you to ask me to the Yule Ball too, but you didn’t exactly deliver on that, so…”

Ben cut her off with another kiss, just as sudden as the first, although she’d been expecting this one.  It went a little better than the first, least of all because Ben didn’t pull back after two seconds. They somehow got their lips to work together in some semblance of an actual kiss.  When he pulled back from her this time, his ears were pink.

If someone had told her on the Hogwarts Express that year that she would have her first kiss with Ben Solo in the Slytherin common room, she would have laughed in their face.

Yet, here she was.  And she had her second and third and fourth...she stopped counting after the fourth.  Sometime later in the day, they got around to talking about the mysterious  _ thing _ that had sprung up between them.  It was Rey who brought it up, her head cushioned on his chest and his arm wrapped securely around her.  She didn’t want to disturb the moment she’d waited so long for, but she also didn’t fancy living with uncertainty.  

“What does this mean for us, exactly?” she asked, barely daring to breathe as she waited for his answer.

He took a long time, and she could tell that he was thinking through his words carefully.  Her heart sank. “I suppose I’d like it if we were dating,” he said finally, his ears that lovely shade of pink again.  It spread to his cheeks too.

Rey grinned up at him.  “I’d like that too.”

He gave her the softest smile she’d ever seen on his face.  After a moment, it faded and something else darkened his eyes.  “This isn’t going to be easy. You’re in Hufflepuff and I’m in Slytherin and…”

She held a finger up to his lips to silence him.  “Let’s talk about that later.” She knew his concerns were very real and would have to be addressed before the end of the Christmas holidays, but that was two weeks away.  For now, she just wanted to forget that oceans stood between them.

For now, she just wanted to enjoy Christmas with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so you didn't really get a full dance scene, but I'm planning on having that in a flashback later, since so many people were asking for it. I hope you liked what you DID get in this chapter :D let me know in the comments!
> 
> P.S. I think I earned my slow burn tag...thanks for sticking with it!


	35. Seven for a Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One for sorrow,  
> Two for joy,  
> Three to get married,  
> Four for a boy,   
> Five for silver,  
> Six for gold,  
> Seven for a secret,  
> Never to be told.  
> Eight for a wish,  
> Nine for a kiss,  
> Ten for a bird,  
> You must not miss.

Christmas came quickly to Hogwarts.  Snow fell in thick drifts across the grounds and piled up against the walls of the castle.  It would have been chilly inside if the castle weren’t magically heated to keep the corridors toasty even on these frigid days.  She worried that the Hogwarts Express wouldn’t be able to forge its way through the snowdrifts to reach them, but she was sure they had some way to counteract that as well.

In the end, only seven students remained at Hogwarts, alongside the six professors who hadn’t had other family to return to.  Han Solo and Baze joined them from Hogsmeade, since their spouses taught at Hogwarts, to make a total of fifteen present for meals in the castle.  They were a jovial bunch, even more so than in previous years.

Rey spent her days reading by the fireplace in one common room or another - most of the students moved freely between them during the holidays anyway, except for Slytherin.  She could be found with Ben about half of the time. On the second day, she brought him to the Hufflepuff common room. Several students from multiple houses were gathered in the armchairs there and all fell silent when he entered.  When Rey greeted them brightly and led him to a table set up for wizard’s chess, they eventually resumed their conversations. After a few days of seeing Ben around regularly, people stopped whispering every time he entered a room. Rey couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction at that.  Even Ben seemed relieved.

When she wasn’t reading or spending time with Ben or flying as long as she could stand the cold on her broom, Rey went for long walks around the castle.  It was nice to have it mostly to herself and the ghosts that haunted Hogwarts even during Christmas. During one of those walks, on the third floor corridor, she encountered Professor Organa.  The witch smiled when she saw Rey and paused.

“Out for a walk, Ms. Niima?” she asked.

Rey shrugged.  “It’s nice to see the castle without everyone here.  I’ve always loved Hogwarts in the wintertime.”

Leia acknowledged this.  “Forgive me if I’m being nosy,” she went on.  “But I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with my son.”

Rey was sure that her cheeks had tinged pink at the insinuation in the professor’s question.  “Ben and I have grown to be close friends,” she answered. More than that she wasn’t sure either of them were ready to disclose to his mother.  

Professor Organa looked a little surprised at that revelation but not displeased.  “I’m glad to hear he has a friend such as you.”

Rey returned her genuine smile.  “Thank you.”

The professor glanced down at a piece of parchment in her hand.  “Ms. Niima, your rambles wouldn’t happen to carry you to the Divination Tower, would they?”

“Not usually,” Rey answered.  “But I’d be happy to take something up for you.”

“If you don’t mind,” Professor Organa said, holding out the sealed roll of parchment in her hand.  “I would take it myself, but I’m scheduled to meet with Luke in a moment and those stairs do get to an old woman after a while.  I confess I’m glad I don’t have to climb to the Ravenclaw Tower as often during the holidays.”

Rey took the parchment with a smile.  “I’d be happy to take it. I thought about heading up to the towers today anyway and perhaps the owlery to see BB.  I’ll see you at dinner, professor.”

True to her word, Rey headed straight for the Divination Tower, a hike up the main staircase to the seventh floor corridor.  She encountered no one else the whole way up but, then again, she hadn’t expected to. The only attractions in this part of the castle were the divination classroom and one other classroom sometimes used for Defense.  She paused at the bottom of the winding staircase to catch her breath before ascending the final steps to Professor Kanata’s classroom, office, and living arrangements.  

Everyone knew the old divination professor resided in the north tower beside her classroom.  In fact, she rarely left the tower, sometimes even preferring to take her meals there, although she did venture out often for supper.  Most students avoided the tower and professor likewise. Her enormous spectacles and short stature gave her an otherworldly appearance, a bit like a house elf, although she claimed no ancestor of that race.  In fact, it was rumored that Professor Kanata could trace her ancestry back to the Trojan seer Cassandra herself. Rey wasn’t sure what she thought of that, but she always got on well with Professor Kanata. She did not regret leaving behind her subject, though.

Rey rapped on the wooden door at the top of the staircase.  She waited for a moment and knocked again but received no answer.  Hesitantly, she cracked open the classroom’s door and peered inside.  “Professor Kanata?” she called. “Professor, are you there? It’s Rey Niima.  I have something for you from Professor Organa.”

For a moment, there was silence, and Rey was afraid that the professor wouldn’t answer at all and she would have to tell Professor Organa that she had failed to deliver the message.  But then, a voice issued from the far end of the classroom. “Come in, Ms. Niima.”

Rey obeyed, opening the door and ducking inside the classroom.  Although it was winter, heat engulfed her at once together with the cloying scent of strong incense that made her cough.  So much smoke filled the room that she could barely make out Professor Kanata’s form at the other end of the room. All of the curtains had been drawn so little light could enter the room.  She stepped cautiously closer as her eyes adjusted to the dimness.  

“Ms. Niima,” Professor Kanata said, peering at her through those enormous spectacles.  “You did well on your Patronus.”

Rey stuttered for a moment, trying to puzzle through this unexpected comment.  “Thank you, professor.”

“It’s a shame you weren’t as gifted in Divination,” the professor continued.  “But, then again, that’s not your fault. Only some are gifted with the ability of Sight.”

Rey respected Professor Kanata, but she wasn’t entirely convinced that  _ anyone _ was blessed with the ability of Sight or that there was such a thing.  She took no offense at the professor’s words, though. She knew very well that she was not gifted at Divination.  It was one form of magic that did not come easily to her and one of the few in which the textbook was of no help.

“What did you come for again, Ms. Niima?” Professor Kanata asked.  Rey sighed to herself. Some of the students had begun whispering that Professor Kanata had gone senile.  She didn’t believe it, but it was true that the professor was often forgetful now.

“I have a message for you from Professor Organa,” she answered and held out the sealed roll of parchment.  She had not violated the trust of her professors by attempting to look inside of it. Whatever it was -- probably Hogwarts business -- was none of her concern.

Professor Kanata took it, cracked open the seal, and took in the note with quick swipes of her bespectacled eyes.  She sighed and rerolled it, sending it careening into the adjacent room with a quick swipe of her wand. Through it all, Rey stood awkwardly in front of her, unsure if her task had been completed.

“Thank you, Ms. Niima,” she said.  “I will answer Professor Organa at dinner after I look into the matter.”  She shook her head. “There are dark times ahead of us.”

Rey felt something flutter in her stomach.  She still didn’t know what was in the letter, but she wondered if it had something to do with the Order.  The encounter left her with added questions. What did Professor Organa need Professor Kanata to look into that she couldn’t do herself?  Some sort of Divination matter?

_ None of my business, _ Rey reminded herself.  Although they had joined the Order, that did not make she or any of her friends high-ranking members.  The professors were fully qualified to keep secrets from her.

“Will you be down for Christmas dinner, professor?” Rey asked politely.

“Oh, yes,” the professor answered as if roused from a daze.  “I always come to Christmas dinner. I hear the pudding will be especially good this year.”

Rey smiled.  “I’ll see you then.  Happy Christmas.”

Professor Kanata returned the sentiment, and Rey turned to go.  She had only made it a few steps when she heard a gasp from behind her and turned to see Professor Kanata bracing herself against the table in front of her.  Rey rushed back to her side at once.

“Professor?  What is it?” she asked.  But Professor Kanata’s eyes, when they turned to her, seemed to look right through her.  Rey settled for supporting her so that she didn’t slip off her chair. “Professor? Are you in pain?  Should I fetch the healer?”

Professor Kanata slumped over further in her chair and shook a little in Rey’s arms.  Thoroughly alarmed now, she pulled out her wand. There had to be some way she could send a message floors below to the professors for help.  No one else was around, possibly for several floors, and she couldn’t leave Professor Kanata to go for help.  

She remembered then a variation on the Patronus Charm that Professor Organa had mentioned in class just a few weeks before.  She’d been so intrigued by the idea that she’d done some reading on her own time. According to what she’d seen and heard, the Patronus Charm could be used to deliver messages as well.  She decided that, without an owl or floo powder, she had no other options to convey her message.

Concentrating as best as she could on her happy memories, she cast her Patronus.  The unicorn burst from her wand and stood before her, as if sensing what she wanted and waiting for the message.  She relayed it to the ghostly form. It galloped off down the hallway, and she hoped desperately that it was headed for the professors.

The professor had stopped shaking but still had not come out of her stupor.  Suddenly, as Rey sat beside her and wracked her brain for any healing spell she’d learned, Professor Kanata sat bolt upright and grabbed Rey’s arm in a death grip.  Her eyes still appeared unfocused but were fixed on Rey’s face.

_ “The supreme leader seeks his followers,” _ she rasped.

“What?” Rey said, ducking her head to bring her ear closer to Professor Kanata.

_ “The supreme leader seeks his followers,” _ the professor repeated, her hand still fastened around Rey’s bicep.   _ “He will rise again, stronger than before, war’s son by his side.  The supreme leader seeks his followers. He will rise again with the new year.  The supreme leader seeks his followers, but a snake lies among them. Only the traitor and the nobody can vanquish the supreme leader once he arises.” _

As soon as the final word left her mouth, Professor Kanata slumped over on her chair, unconscious.  Rey tried to make her comfortable and hoped that someone would come to help her soon. The professor’s words spun in her mind.  All sorts of things about the supreme leader and rising again. She didn’t like the sound of that.

Only moments later, both Professor Skywalker and Professor Organa hurried into the room, Healer Zarrin behind them.  Rey breathed a sigh of relief and yielded her place to them. Healer Zarrin immediately started asking her questions about Maz Kanata and the fit that had overtaken her.

“I’d just delivered your message, professor,” Rey said to Professor Organa.  “And I turned to leave and I heard her gasp. She just slumped over and started shaking and her eyes were unfocused, as if she didn’t even see me...”

“Has she been like that the whole time?” the healer asked.

“Well, she was for a while and then she started saying these things.  Her voice wasn’t normal. It was deeper.” She turned to Professor Organa again.  “Professor, I don’t understand what she said, but it didn’t sound good. She didn’t seem to be in her right mind.”

Professor Organa exchanged a telling glance with Professor Skywalker, who bent down beside the slumped form of Maz Kanata and waved his wand over her.  “She should be coming out of it soon,” he said.

The healer looked at him.  “Do you know what this is, Luke?”

Skywalker glanced back at Rey briefly.  “Cash, you know Professor Kanata is a Seer.  What Ms. Niima here has witnessed is a prophecy.  It does tend to take its toll.”

The healer leaned in.  “I didn’t think she actually  _ was _ a Seer.”

“Oh yes,” Skywalker answered cheerfully.  “I believe this is her third real prophecy.  I should offer her a raise.”

Rey tried to wrap her head around what he’d just said.  A prophecy? A genuine prophecy? She didn’t want to consider its implications.  Just then, true to his word, Professor Kanata stirred and blinked her eyes open. She looked around her into the concerned faces of the healer and the professors and held a hand to her head.

“What happened?” she asked.  “Did I pass out?”

“You’re alright, Maz,” Skywalker said, helping her sit up fully and handing her a glass of water he conjured from nowhere.  “You’ve just had a bit of a fit. Gave Ms. Niima here a fright.”

Rey watched, stunned, as Healer Zarrin helped Professor Kanata out of the room and down to the Hospital Wing.  She still had not wrapped her head around what had happened that afternoon. As soon as the others left the room, though, Professor Skywalker waved his wand and closed the door.  Its lock turned with an audible click. With another wave of his wand, he opened the curtains along the wall and sunlight flooded into the musty classroom. Professor Organa sat her down and handed her a glass of water.

“What just happened?” she asked when her head had cleared a little.

“As I said,” Skywalker answered.  “You witnessed a true prophecy. Now, we need you to recount exactly what she said.”

Professor Organa gave her brother a chastising look.  “Professor Kanata is a Seer,” she told Rey. “You’ve heard of them, I’m sure?”  Rey nodded. “Perhaps you’ve also heard that she can trace her ancestry to the Trojan princess Cassandra.  This is also true. She comes from a long line of women gifted with the art of prophecy. Divination is the closest that the rest of us can come to true Seeing, but these prophecies do not come by choice.  As you saw, the Seer goes into a trance to deliver her prophecy and cannot remember anything about it when she awakens.”

“So, what I heard, it’s going to come true?” Rey asked.

Leia exchanged a look with her brother.  “Perhaps. Prophecies, like anything else, are subject to change and interpretation.  Often, it is difficult to say exactly what a prophecy means until it happens. With hindsight, it can be much easier to pinpoint the prediction.”

“The receiver of the prophecy has perfect recall of it no matter how much time passes,” Skywalker added more gently.  When Rey thought back, she could remember the prophecy in its entirety, just as it had been delivered. “Can you tell us what she said?”

Behind him, a quill sprang to life and poised itself to write on a piece of parchment.  Rey nodded. She didn’t want the burden of puzzling out the riddle of the prophecy. She repeated the prophecy word for word to the two professors with the quill jotting down what she said all the while.  Their faces grew increasingly grave.

“I can’t figure out what it means,” she said once she’d finished.  “Other than...well, other than the part about the supreme leader rising again, stronger than before.”  She swallowed hard. “Isn’t that what Snoke calls himself? Supreme Leader?”

Professor Organa nodded, her face grave.  “You’re right,” she said. “The rest is a bit of a puzzle.  War’s son? And there’s the bit about the traitor and the nobody.  If we can figure out who those are, it might give us the upper hand in the coming war.”

Professor Organa had shifted before her eyes into General Leia Organa, the hero of the First Wizarding War against Snoke and his followers, daughter of the feared dark wizard Anakin Skywalker.  She had started thinking in terms of marshalling troops and leading another war like the first. Rey took a deep breath. She had signed up to be a part of this. They all had.

Professor Skywalker looked down at her thoughtfully.  “A prophecy is always revealed to someone concerned with its outcome.”

That thought terrified her.  “That could apply to many people, though,” she argued.  “Most of the wizarding world is concerned with the outcome of another war.  I suppose I would be even more, being a muggleborn and all.”

Leia shook her head.  “There’s usually a closer connection than that.  They can be referenced specifically in the prophecy or be bound up in its execution somehow.”

Rey could see where they were going with this.  “I’m no traitor.”

“Of course not,” Luke answered at once.  “No one is suggesting that you’re a traitor or could be called a traitor.”

She could see the continuation written on their faces, although they hesitated to say it.  She said it for them. “But I am a nobody.” Leia wanted to object, she could see it. “No home, no parents, no family.  Muggleborn. Snoke and his followers don’t even think I belong here. To them, I’m the epitome of a nobody.”

“We don’t know for sure,” Professor Organa said, shaking her head.  “It’s only speculation. And it could be nothing. You could be no more involved in this than the rest of the members of the Order.  That may have been enough. But we need to be prepared. ‘Traitor’ could refer to any of us from that vantage point. The Death Eaters believe that all pure- or half-blooded wizards who don’t support him are Blood Traitors.”

“But there’s Finn,” she said, looking down at the ground now.  “They all call him a Traitor. His family was one of the founding members of the Death Eaters.”

“It’s possible,” Professor Skywalker allowed.  “Again, we can’t be sure. But we do need to be careful, Rey.  You especially.”

She nodded.  Something else Professor Kanata had said belatedly sounded like prophecy to her ears now.  

There were dark days ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not good at writing prophecies, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyway! New chapter will be up on Saturday.


	36. Happy Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas arrives at Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a day late! Hope you still enjoy it. I should be on time for posting on Wednesday :) Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter!

Rey tried to forget about prophecies and supreme lords and traitors at least for one day: Christmas.  As soon as she’d arrived at the library after leaving Professor Kanata’s, Ben had taken one look at the expression on her face and jumped out of his seat.  She’d told him everything: the prophecy, Professor Kanata’s strange trance, even their hazy speculations about the subject of the prophecy. His mouth had pressed into a thin, worried line, and she’d seen the darkness creep back into his eyes.

“It can’t be referring to you,” he’d said with finality.  “It can’t.”

But Rey had resolved to put it out of her mind, at least for now.  She wanted to enjoy Christmas without the looming specter of war hanging over her head.  Tomorrow, she thought, after all the festivities, I’ll send letters to Poe and Finn and Rose and tell them what happened.  Until then, she could put it out of her mind.

On Christmas morning, she woke up with the sun and a huge grin on her face.  Tossing her blankets aside, she ran down to the common room on sock-clad feet.  The Christmas tree that had been put up in the corner and decorated by her whole house in true Hufflepuff tradition stood surrounded by presents of all shapes, sizes, and colors.  Each pile of presents was labeled with a student’s name. Rey found her own sizeable pile and grinned.

A knock sounded on the door to the common room, followed by muffled cursing as someone got covered in vinegar for their efforts.  She laughed and went to find out who was knocking at such an early hour, expecting one of the students from Gryffindor that kept setting up shop in the Hufflepuff common room.

Instead, she found Ben half covered in vinegar.  Thankfully, he’d set his pile of presents down against the wall and they’d been spared his fate.  She laughed when she encountered his scowl, his dark hair dripping into his face. With a wave of her wand, she cleaned up the mess her house’s door had made of him.

“Well, that’s a fine ‘Happy Christmas’ for you,” he muttered, brushing his now-dry hair out of his face.  She stretched up on her toes to kiss him and he grinned.  

“You knew the door would do that if you didn’t knock properly,” she reminded him.  “It’s your own fault, really.”

He rolled his eyes and levitated his pile of presents into the common room.  His ears tinged pink. “I wanted to open presents with you. If that’s ok.”

Rey beamed.  “Of course. I haven’t started on mine either.”

He tossed his pile down in the middle of the floor by the fire.  It made her sad that he didn’t seem to care about his presents at all.  She towed her own pile out from under the tree with more care so they could sit with their backs against the sofa and open presents together.  He too seemed to have forgotten the prophecy and the looming threat of war in the wake of Christmas cheer.

She noticed that he had separated his pile in two: the presents from his relatives sat on one side, the few from his friends on another.  He frowned down, as if deciding where to start. His pile outweighed hers by a good amount, but she felt that she relished hers more. Finally, he picked up a present signed with a flourish and opened it.  A highly polished Sneakoscope fell out into his lap. He picked it up without much interest.

“Uncle Lando,” he said, setting the thing aside.  “Old friend of my dad’s from way back. He’s always traveling somewhere.  I think you have his niece in Hufflepuff this year.”

Rey opened one of her presents, which turned out to be from Poe.  He’d sent her a broom care set and an enormous book on famous Seekers through the ages and their specialty moves.  She smiled. Leave it to Poe to give her something Quidditch related. Ben set aside the present he’d been halfway through opening to examine her broom care set.  He opened a set of gobstones that may have been made of precious stones from someone he said he barely knew.

They worked through their piles steadily, Ben at a faster rate than Rey.  Poe’s parents had sent her a compass and wand-sheath that would fit on her broom.  Rose had sent her a new Hufflepuff Quidditch jumper. Rey laughed, imagining her friend writing home to her parents about her holey clothes.  Finn gifted her a moving picture of the four of them in a frame that changed constantly and her very own subscription to the Prophet starting the next day.  She paused when Ben reached the presents from his parents.

His hands shook a little as he opened the package signed  _ Love, Leia _ .  An emerald green sweater slowly emerged, so soft it felt like water beneath her hands.  He looked down at it and she thought she saw him smile just a little. Han had sent him a bottle each of firewhisky and butterbeer -- she wished she could see Leia’s face when she found out -- and new Keeper’s gloves.  Luke’s present turned out to be a set of books on Runes and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ben frowned a little at that, but Rey thought she understood. The war loomed large on all of their minds, and she knew Ben’s family was concerned about his involvement in it.

Rey opened several gifts from various friends: Packages of Every-Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs and other sweets from Cassian; an enormous bottle of Firewhisky from Jyn, which she’d labeled “For when you lose to Gryffindor”; packs of magical playing cards and Exploding Snaps from Hannah; a magical First Aid kit from Eliza packed with useful instructions in her own handwriting.  She smiled down at her pile of gifts.

Rey picked up a hefty package that had a quick note jotted on a strip of parchment with no signature:  _ to the finest Seeker and Prefect at Hogwarts _ .  It was wrapped in plain brown paper.  She thought she knew who it was from but understood why Professor Kenobi couldn’t sign the note.  Not that he seemed to care much about rules. It turned out to be an enormous and thorough reference book on Runes, including many more intricate lines that they hadn’t even begun to touch on.

Ben received a fancy watch from Hux and a pile of sweets from Phasma.  She recognized her own gift left for last. She also held a gift from him wrapped, cheekily she was sure, in green paper.  Rey smiled at him and pried open the paper. She saw him do the same with his own present out of the corner of her eye.

He had given her a watch, but it wasn’t the normal, time-telling kind.  Instead, it had several small hands inscribed with the names of those closest to her: Poe, Finn, Rose, Hannah, Eliza...and Ben.  The six hands pointed to their location or status. All of them currently hovered over the section of the clock reading  _ home _ , but it could also read  _ in transit, Hogwarts, out on business, in danger _ .  She looked at Ben, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

“Thank you, Ben,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek and sliding the watch onto her wrist.  

“You can change the settings on it if you just tap it with your wand like this,” he said and showed her, changing  _ out on business _ to  _ at the pub _ and back again.  “If you want it to read something else.”

“It’s wonderful,” she said.  “Finish opening yours!”

She regretted that her present wasn’t nearly as fancy as his, but she had little to spare for Christmas presents.  She’d gotten him a simple, flat copper bracelet inscribed with protective runes that would ward off any harmful spells.  He grinned and put it on at once.

“Now you can’t hex me,” he said, laughing.  “Even if I really piss you off.”

Rey knocked shoulders with him and grinned.  “Fancy breakfast? It’s probably ready by now.”

The day had the undeniable feeling of Christmas in the air.  It took more than an hour of pestering on her part, but Ben eventually agreed to go ice skating with her on the Black Lake, which seemed to have frozen overnight.  She bundled up in nearly every coat and sweater that she owned and ventured out with him in tow.  

“We’re going to fall through the ice,” he warned, tugging his scarf tighter around his neck and face.  He had an emerald green hat pulled down over his ears. She hadn’t missed how it matched the new green sweater he wore, fresh from the present pile that morning.

Rey laughed and charmed her shoes into skates.  “Then cast the feather-light charm on yourself.  _ I’m _ not going to fall in.”

“I’m not helping you out if you do,” he grumbled, but his mouth twitched up at the corners.

She hoisted herself up on unsteady feet and stumbled the few feet to the edge of the lake.  Contrary to popular belief, she had actually gone skating before. It just seemed a lot simpler in the Muggle world, which usually provided her with a wall to hang onto.  Nevertheless, she put a brave foot onto the ice and had to grab Ben’s arm to keep herself from toppling over at once.

“What was that about not falling?” he asked with a smug grin.  She considered hexing him just to see what he’d do about it.

“I said I won’t fall  _ in _ , not that I won’t fall at all.”

“Important clarification.”

Rey glowered up at him.  “If I fall, I’m taking you down with me.”

“I haven’t cast my feather-light charm,” he teased.  “I’ll make you go back on your promise and send us both through the ice.  How’s that going to help the both of us?”

She rolled her eyes and stepped onto the ice again.  This time, her feet didn’t rebel against her, and she was ready for the sudden loss of any friction or stability.  Soon, she managed to get her other foot onto the ice and pushed out onto the lake. Ben didn’t even stumble as he glided out onto the ice.

“That’s just not fair,” she protested, crossing her arms as he skated circles around her.  “Dancing, skating...is there anything you rotten purebloods can’t do?”

“I can’t cook,” he offered.  “At all.”

“Or do your own laundry,” she added with a grin.  “All those house elves sure spoil you.”

He rolled his eyes.  “The house elves do your laundry now too, you know.”  He skated another smooth circle around her. “And, I’ll have you know, most purebloods wouldn’t be caught dead ice skating.  It’s a  _ muggle _ pastime.”

“Oh really?”  She raised her eyebrows at him.  “How do  _ you _ know how to skate so well then?  Your hardly a muggle.”

“True,” he allowed.  “But Uncle Luke was raised by muggles, so he learned how to skate when he was young, and Organa Manor has an enormous lake on its grounds.  He taught me how to skate one winter and I just kept going.”

Rey considered that for a moment.  “That’s kind of sweet.” He rolled his eyes, and she felt less charitable.  “But, seriously? Your  _ manor _ has  _ grounds _ ?  Do you have  _ gardens _ too?  Did you go out in a horse-drawn carriage with a silver spoon in your mouth?”

“Is there anything you won’t mock me for?” he asked, but his words held no heat.

“No,” she answered with a grin.  “It just doesn’t really help your case, talking about the lake on your mansion’s grounds.  Would you like me to tell you what  _ my  _ ‘manor’ was like?”

“Yes,” he said with sincerity that took her aback.

“We didn’t have  _ grounds _ or anything fancy like that, but we did have half a yard, which was a luxury in London, even if it could only fit six of us at a time,” she said, trying to keep the teasing tone from slipping out of her voice.  “No lakes to speak of.”

“How many lived there?” he asked, no hint of teasing in his voice.

“It varied,” she said, shrugging.  “Could be twelve, could be twenty. The highest we got was twenty-five once, I think.”

“Did you have your own room?”

Rey snorted at that.  “No, we didn’t have access to a  _ manor _ with twenty-five rooms.  We shared, usually three or four to a room.  You just had your little corner with your things and everything else was shared.”

“Do you miss it?” he asked.

She stumbled at the unexpected question, and Ben caught her before she could fall.  She looked up into his dark eyes. The sincerity in them scared the truth out of her.  “Sometimes,” she said. “It sounds crazy, but sometimes I do. Not compared to Hogwarts, but it was my home for a while too.  If I never had to go back there again, I think I’d be happy -- maybe I never will now that I’m seventeen -- but I’d be a bit sad too.  We made each other family.”

She couldn’t fathom what went on in his head.  “I think I understand that feeling a little.”

“Do you miss your manor?” she asked and hoped he would answer.

Ben looked away and shrugged.  “I suppose I do sometimes. Those were happier times, I think, or that’s just how I remember them.  Mum was still too busy at the ministry to be around much. Dad took me to his pubs and shops a lot. Someone always dropped in to visit.  I don’t know if it was better just...different.”

They skated a little longer until Rey made her way to the edge and packed together as much snow as she could.  Ben didn’t see it coming. The enormous snowball made him fall onto the ice. He looked up, startled, into her laughing face and groused as he shook the snow from his hair.  One snowball turned into five and then ten and then countless until they were both lying in the snow laughing themselves breathless.

Rey didn’t regret the decision to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas one bit.

~  ~ ~

Ben still wore his new emerald sweater when they went down for Christmas dinner in the Great Hall.  It always struck her as odd to see the Great Hall during the Christmas holidays, when one short table replaced the four long house tables.  The Christmas trees remained fresh and decorated from the Yule Ball. Rey remembered the look on Ben’s face as he’d stared aimlessly at one and grinned.  Less than a week had passed, yet so much had changed.

They arrived separately but took seats beside each other, a fact that went mostly unnoticed by the other students who had gotten used to the sight of them together.  It did not go unnoticed by Leia and Han, the latter of whom plopped himself down on the bench beside Rey.

“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted her.  “Happy Christmas, Ben.” He leaned around her to give his son an awkward pat on the back.  “How’s life at Hogwarts?”

She wasn’t sure if the question was directed at her, Ben, or the pair of them.  Ben seemed uninclined to answer, so she took the task upon herself. “Quiet. It’s nice to have it almost empty for the holidays.  It’s relaxing.”

“Sure, sure,” he said, eyeing them as if he could see right through their tricks.  “Leia told me about the whole Vault incident.”

“That’s not common knowledge,” Ben said in warning, his shoulders stiff.

Han just shrugged.  “That was quite the stunt you kids pulled off.  I’m glad you were there for each other. A little bit of madness venturing into a place like that.  I think you got your mother’s side of things, Ben.”

He didn’t answer.  “Because we haven’t heard the antics  _ you _ got into during your time at Hogwarts,” Rey retorted.  “I seem to remember something about a collapsed secret passage.”

“Ah, well,” Han deflected.  “I suppose I did get up to some mischief.  But nothing like containing a curse. Well, I should say, everything like that was always because of Luke and Leia.   _ They _ were the ones hunting down the evil incarnate.  I just got dragged along for the ride.”

“I think we all know that’s not true,” Rey said, shaking her head with a smile.   

Beside her, Ben looked less and less comfortable the longer Han talked.  It didn’t seem to matter what they talked about. She slipped her hand beneath the table and interlaced their fingers, hoping Han wouldn’t notice why she was eating with only one hand.  Ben gave her the smallest of smiles. Thankfully, at that moment, Han turned to talk to Ben Kenobi on his other side. Ben’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Ben,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder.  “Open a cracker with me!”

He rolled his eyes at her, but his grin gave him away.  “Aren’t you a little old for these?”

At that moment, a bang as loud as cannon fire enveloped the end of the table in blue smoke.  Leia and Luke emerged from it, waving the smoke from their faces and doubling over with laughter.  Leia proudly swapped her hat for the enormous feathered one that had emerged from the cracker. She tossed the pack of Every-Flavor Beans to her brother.  Rey turned back to Ben and gave him a pointed stare.

“Fine,” he relented.  A moment later, they were enveloped in a haze of green smoke.  Rey donned her new bright pink top hat. She forced Ben to wear the pointed blue wizard’s cap that emerged from the next cracker.  A few other students remembered the Christmas crackers and soon much of the table had been enveloped in different hues of smoke.

“Hey, kiddo,” Han said, turning back to her.  Ben’s grin faded a little, and she squeezed his hand beneath the table.  “How did you learn to fly?”

It was a common enough question, nicer when it came from Han instead of one of the Slytherins that liked to remind her of her heritage.  She shrugged. “With Antilles, like many of the students. He let me borrow a school broom to practice after classes.”

Han leaned around her to talk to Ben.  “Remember when I taught you how to fly, Ben?”

To her surprise, Ben suppressed a smile and rolled his eyes.  “How could I forget? That bloody Millennium was a death trap.”

“It was not,” Han protested with vigor.  “That was my broom when I was in school.”

“And you trashed it,” Ben answered without disguising his grin.  “I don’t think you clipped the tail of it a single time.”

“Who needs to clip the tail?  That’s an excuse for poor flyers,” he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest and grumbling.  Ben Kenobi listened on with wry amusement. “It was not a death trap. I taught you well. I wouldn’t have put an eight year old on a death trap.”

“You made me fly that thing until I came to Hogwarts,” Ben reminded him.  “Even though it tried to throw me off a dozen times. I brought it to Hogwarts and almost crashed into the Whomping Willow the first time I took it out.”

Rey doubled over in laughter listening to the father and son go back and forth.  Han pointed at his son. “ _ That _ wasn’t my fault.”

“Then why did you buy me a brand new Millennium after that?” Ben challenged, an enormous grin on his face now.

“You flew it into the Whomping Willow!  I didn’t have any other choice. Bloody tree smashed it to bits.  I half thought you did it on purpose to get a new broom,” he answered, brandishing his fork at them.  “You Slytherins with your tricks.”

Rey expected Ben to clam up at that, but he didn’t.  He just rolled his eyes. “I hadn’t even been sorted into Slytherin yet, as you well know.  Anyway, it worked, didn’t it?”

“Ha!  So you  _ were _ trying to get a new broom!”

Ben shrugged.  “No, didn’t occur to me as I tried to steer the broom away from the murder tree.  But it was a nice perk afterwards.”

Han turned back to Kenobi, grumbling about ungrateful children.  “At least you never had to buy any of these brats brooms and gear and all,” Han muttered to the professor.  Rey and Kenobi made eye contact over Han’s shoulder and burst into laughter. “What? What is it now?”

“Well…” Rey supplied.  “Actually…”

By the time they left the Great Hall, the richer from the many crackers pulled and full from the many dishes eaten, the clock had passed midnight.  It was Rey who’d decided to leave and offered to walk back with Ben. He’d agreed at once, as she’d expected. She’d noticed him growing ever paler as the night wore on, glancing up at the clock with greater frequency.

“Are you feeling alright, Ben?” she asked as soon as they’d escaped to the cool quiet of the Entrance Hall.  

“What?” he asked, shaking himself.  “Oh, yes, of course. Nice dinner, wasn’t it?”

Frowning, she held her hand up to his forehead.  “Are you sure? You’re awfully pale. Did something not agree with you?  I’m sure Healer Zarrin has some Pepper-Up Potion.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted.  “I think I have a headache coming on.”

“You should really take some Pepper-Up Potion.  It’ll help,” she insisted.

But Ben shook his head.  “It usually doesn’t.” He pressed his fingers to his temples.  “I, uh, might not be around much tomorrow, Rey. My headaches can be bad.”

“Okay,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze.  “Just owl or something if you need anything.”  Rey leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Happy Christmas, Ben.”

As he descended the stairs to the Slytherin dormitories, she couldn’t explain the unease that churned in her stomach.


	37. Do I make you cringe now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey arrives to breakfast and a headline in the Prophet.

When Rey entered the Great Hall two days after Christmas, she could tell something was wrong.  Only half of the students and staff who had remained at Hogwarts were present. Ben was not there.  That alone made her worried. True to his word, she had not seen him at all the day before. No one else seemed to know what had become of him either.  Even Leia had paused in the hall to ask her if she’d seen him.

She had spent her day reading and tending to her broom within an inch of its life with the new kit Poe had gifted her.  The snow still fell steadily outside the castle. It had been a cozy day but a lonely one. She hadn’t realized how much time she’d been spending with Ben.  And how much she’d enjoyed it. That year had marked the happiest Christmas she had ever known.

Rey took an empty seat beside a Ravenclaw student she didn’t know.  Almost as soon as she dropped the first spoonful of jam onto her plate, the cry of an owl echoed through the room.  Several owls, far fewer than usual, swept into the room and dropped parcels over the diners. A few looked to be late Christmas presents or cards.  Most were Daily Prophets. The clattering of her own newspaper still surprised her, although she knew full well that Finn had gifted her the subscription and she had received the first the day before.

Her muffin clenched in her teeth, Rey reached eagerly for her copy of the Prophet.  Christmas had created a warm bubble around her and the castle, but she longed to know what was going on in the wider wizarding world.  The novelty of her newspaper subscription had not worn off.

When she unrolled the newspaper, though, her heart froze.  There, in bold print, stood the headline:  _ Snoke murders twenty Muggles _ .  And beneath the headline, a picture that looked far too familiar to her.  The Plutt Orphanage.

Her uneaten muffin clattered onto her plate.  She couldn’t take it in. It wasn’t possible. Her orphanage meant nothing to anyone.  It didn’t even mean anything to anyone in the muggle world. Why would Snoke care about it at all?  There must be some mistake. She choked on her own breath. There must be…

“Rey.”  She heard Leia’s voice as if from the end of a distant tunnel.  Faintly, she could see the witch’s pale face and wide eyes. But nothing seemed to reach her at the end of that long tunnel. 

Somehow, she got up from the table and ran.  She didn’t care that everyone’s eyes had fallen to her.  She ran. As she pushed through the doors of the Great Hall, she knocked shoulders with Ben, who had just come down to breakfast.  Even his presence felt like too much. She ran past him.

Rey didn’t know why she ran or where to.  Or what from. No matter how far she ran, the awful truth seeped further into her heart.  Snoke had destroyed the orphanage and everyone in it. He had stripped her of the only other place she could call home.  That part of her life had died with its occupants. Her sobs gripped her throat like a vise.

At some point, she found herself in the Hufflepuff common room.  She didn’t stop even then. Her house held no comfort for her, no more than the rest of the castle that she now called her only home.  She snatched her broom up from the end of her bed and ran some more. She only stopped running when she felt the cold wind on her face and then she flew.  

The cold air was a much-needed shock to her system.  She still held the crumpled newspaper in her hand. It occurred to her then that she had not even made it past the headline and picture on the first page.  She couldn’t read it yet.  

Rey flew and flew and flew, over the spires of Hogwarts, across the Black Lake, over the bare treetops of the Forbidden Forest, tauntingly close to the Whomping Willow, over the Quidditch Pitch.  The sights of Hogwarts did not call to her that morning. Nothing thawed her numb heart. She flew until her cheeks couldn’t feel the cold wind anymore and her fingers could barely grip her broom.  It occurred to her belatedly that she wore nothing but a light sweater and jeans: no scarf, no gloves, no hat.

Despite the cold that finally wracked her body, she didn’t want to return to the castle yet.  She didn’t want to face the questioning eyes and pitying stares and whatever comfort they would try to offer her.  Instead, she landed in the top of one of the Quidditch boxes. She didn’t care which one. Her broom clattered against the wood where she dropped it.  

It was only then, deep in the crevice that half-shielded her from the winter wind, that Rey allowed herself to cry.  She read the rest of the Prophet’s article through tear-blurred eyes, but it said nothing more than she expected. They’d all been inside, not a single survivor.  The orphanage was destroyed. The muggles blamed it on a gas leak.  

Rey brought her legs up to her chest and cried into them.  She cried for all of the muggle children who had never had a scrap of love in their lives, who had sheltered in the orphanage as their only option, who would never grow to see a kinder world.  She cried for her former home, now little more than ashes and dust and blood. She cried for herself and the loss of her last connection to what she had been. She had nothing to go back to. If Snoke won the war and banished her from the wizarding world, she would have nothing.  At least, she thought, she’d make him kill her first. That would be better.

After a long time, her tears dried.  Still, she sat. Numb from the cold and the pain.

It was there that Ben found her.  

Rey heard it when his feet touched down on the old boards.  She didn’t even bother looking up. Who else would have found her there?  The bench gave a little as he sat down beside her.

“Rey,” he said, his voice as raw as she felt.  “I’m so sorry, Rey.”

She stared out at the Quidditch pitch for a long time.  “He’s a monster,” she said at last. “What were they to him?  They were orphans. Muggles. Nothing. Why did he even bother killing them?”

Ben said nothing, but his arm settled around her shoulders, and he drew her to his side.  They sat like that for a long time, her questions lost to the howling wind.

“I never thought I would go back there,” Rey said minutes or hours later.  “I was glad to leave it behind and join the wizarding world fully. But now it feels like a part of me is gone.  I can never go back there, even if I wanted to. And all those kids…” She choked on a sob. “I knew them, Ben. I grew up with them.  I taught some of them how to tie their shoelaces. And they’re just gone.”

He held her while she cried into his chest, rubbing soothing circles into her back.  Her sobs quieted and he still held her.

“Merlin, Rey,” he said finally.  “You’re freezing.”

Ben pulled away from her for a moment to slide out of his sweater.  He had another underneath, but that was no better than what she wore, although he had remembered his hat and scarf.  She tried to protest when he went to pull it over her head but relented when she realized she had no choice but to submit or have her arms pinned to her sides.

“Thanks,” she said when the extra layer of warmth enveloped her.  She realized then how cold she’d gotten out there. “I didn’t think that through.  I suppose we should go inside.”

“We can do whatever you need, Rey,” he said, his eyes earnest.  “But I would prefer that you don’t choose freezing to death out here.”

She huffed the ghost of a laugh and agreed to go inside.  “I don’t want to go back through the Entrance Hall. People will stare.”

“Alright,” he said, keeping a hold of her hand.  “We won’t.”

Rey mounted her broom again and forced her stiff fingers to hold on for the trip back to the castle.  True to his word, Ben led them not to the front doors but to the Astronomy Tower. They landed smoothly on the rough stone and hurried inside to the shelter of the tower.  At the bottom of the stairs, Rey paused and stared at the crumpled paper in her hand.

“I just can’t believe they’re gone,” she muttered, pulling his Slytherin sweater tighter around her.  “It makes it worse somehow that it happened the day after Christmas.”

Ben wouldn’t meet her eyes.  She noticed then, back inside the castle, how pale he was with dark circles beneath his eyes.  “Well,” he said, his eyes trained on the stone. “You know, the Supreme Leader never rests, even for holidays.”

He tugged on the sleeve of his jumper, which had ridden up a little on his arm.  Rey shook her head to clear it. “What did you call him?”

“I mean, Snoke.  That’s what he calls himself, I think.  The Supreme Leader,” he said but still wouldn’t meet her gaze.  He tugged on his sleeve again, even though it already covered part of his hand.  Something prickled at the back of Rey’s head, something she didn’t like at all.

“How’s your head?” she asked.

“What?”

“You had a headache?  Isn’t that why you were gone yesterday?”

“Oh, right,” he said, his eyes dropping to the stone again.  “Yes, it’s loads better, thanks.”

“What’s going on, Ben?” she demanded when he seemed hellbent on trying to act normal when he clearly was not.

He met her eyes then for the first time and stopped tugging on his sleeve.  “What do you mean? Besides the tragedy in the papers?”

“You’re pale as the grave, you won’t look me in the eye, and you keep tugging on your damned sleeve.”  Merlin, she was so close to losing her mind. Her grief had driven her mad. That had to be it. There was no way that Ben…  “And, just now, you seemed to forget the raging headache that kept you in your dormitory yesterday.”

“I’m just tired, Rey,” he said.  “The headache and all.”

“Did you really have a headache yesterday?” she demanded.  

Ben hesitated.  And nodded. But he  _ hesitated _ .

She lunged for him.  Quick as his Keeper’s reflexes were, he couldn’t hope to dodge a Seeker when she’d made a surprise move.  In an instant, she’d caught hold of his left wrist and torn back his sleeve.  

The black tattoo greeted her like an omen.  The Dark Mark leered at her from his skin, the skull and snake grinning like they’d concocted some elaborate joke.  She snatched her hand away as if the very touch of his skin burned her. How long had he had that mark? When they’d kissed?  Earlier? How long had he been playing her?

“Rey…” he said, taking a step towards her, that grotesque skull still mocking the last few months of her life and everything she thought she knew.  “Wait, please…”

“You didn’t,” her breath came out as a whisper.  “You couldn’t. You told me you didn’t believe that rubbish anymore.  You didn’t join them.”

“Rey, please, just let me explain,” he pleaded.

She recoiled from his outstretched hand.  “No!” Her own voice surprised her when she screamed the word.  “I trusted you. I fought for you. You  _ betrayed _ me,” she spat at him.  He drew back instinctively from her vitriol.  “Is this all just a game to you? Get the little mudblood to fall in love with you so you can milk her for information?  Is that it?”

“No!  Rey, I swear, none of it was a game.  Rey, please, just let me explain…”

She took a few menacing steps towards him.  “I don’t owe you anything, Ben Solo. I don’t owe you a goddamn thing.”  She felt as if she could set the world on fire. He flinched as she pointed to the Prophet, discarded on the ground in her rage.  “Were you there? Is that why you were gone yesterday? Off muggle hunting? Did your Supreme Leader summon you?”

“Rey, please, I didn’t want…”

Her anger boiled over.  She didn’t even bother with her wand.  She punched him straight in the nose. He groaned, spurting blood down his jumper, but made no move to defend himself.  In the wake of her anger, a numbing sadness reasserted itself. The betrayal rocked her, in a way, more than the deaths.  She knew it was wrong, but she stared down at Ben Solo and felt nothing but the lancing pain through her heart.

Rey turned and ran from him, ignoring his choked pleas for her to  _ wait _ .  She ran until Ben Solo and his empty words didn’t echo behind her anymore.


	38. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm a bit late again! Thank you for all of your lovely comments. I will get to responding to them soon!

Rey didn’t leave the Hufflepuff dormitories for a full day after her damning conversation with Ben Solo.  She had considered venturing out and made it as far as the stack of barrels that blocked the entrance, but she saw Ben sitting outside, waiting for her to emerge, and decided she wasn’t hungry after all.  

Hunger had, in fact, deserted her, although she had not eaten a single bite the day before.  She hadn’t even broken into her stash of candy given to her by her friends for Christmas. Instead, she sat curled up in a chair by the fire with a book by her side, so she could have some excuse for being there.  She didn’t need one. No one bothered her. The Hufflepuffs seemed to sense that she needed space and steered their friends away from her. No one even came to ask her nosy questions. She almost wished they would, just so she could ask them if anything new had shown up in that morning’s Prophet.  

Ben’s confessed betrayal cut her more deeply than the loss of the orphanage.  The latter had been a dull kind of grief that wracked her body, a kind of pain she was familiar with but hadn’t felt in a long time.  It came in waves, when she remembered something new or thought about those halls smeared with blood and turned to ash. Ben, though...that was a different sort of pain.  It had split her open, cleaved her in two. When both pains piled on each other, they threatened to suffocate her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t cry. She had trusted him, loved him, and now she mourned.

She could not remain in the common room forever.  Rey knew that. Eventually, she would have to see him again.  She would have to bear the sight of his face in class and on their weekly rounds.  After a while, she reasoned, he would stop trying to offer whatever meager explanation he had.  They would lapse back into silence. Perhaps, she thought, that would hurt even more. Soon, though, she would need to eat and would have to leave her common room.

Ben came for her at the end of the second day of her isolation.  Not Ben Solo but his namesake, Ben Kenobi. Her head of house let himself in through the barrels and eased himself down on the armchair beside hers.  She stared into the fire even though she could feel his eyes on her.

“Rey,” he said.  The sound of her name recalled her to herself.  He rarely used her first name. She was always Ms. Niima.  She turned to look at him. “I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through.”  His sympathy showed plainly on his face. “To lose your family first and then your home.”

“Hogwarts is my home,” she said, her voice dead and her eyes trained once again on the fire, as if she had repeated the same line a thousand times.

“For you and many others before you.  And now, I suppose, for me as well.” For a while, he didn’t speak.  When he did, his voice was quieter than before. “Your grief is yours.  And I will be the last to tell you how to grieve. Indeed, I cannot. I spent ten years in the desert with my pain, so I have no right.  But I do caution you against starvation. It won’t bring them back.”

She jerked her eyes to meet his soft ones.  They betrayed the depths of his true empathy.  She knew he had seen loss -- everyone knew that about Ben Kenobi -- but he had never spoken of it to her before.  “I’m not starving myself. I know it won’t do anything.”

“No,” he said.  His eyes twinkled at her over his smile.  “I believe you’re holed up here for a very different reason.  I couldn’t help but notice Ben stationed outside the door. I gather he’s been there for some time.  You wouldn’t happen to know why that is, would you? I’m concerned he too has resorted to a hunger strike. And,” he added, his eyes flicking to the bruises on her knuckles.  “I notice you’ve bruised your hand. On his nose, perhaps?”

Rey closed her eyes and wanted to curse Ben for his stupidity.  Of course, he had drawn the professors’ attention. It wasn’t normal behavior for a Slytherin to camp out in front of the Hufflepuff dorm for days on end.  Any hope that he had gotten it through his thick skull that she didn’t want to talk to him died out. She didn’t answer Professor Kenobi but flexed her purple hand.

“It’s none of my business, Rey,” he continued after a moment of her silence.  “I know you haven’t asked any advice of this old man.”

“I always value your advice,” she said at once.  Her hands tightened around each other. “You have never given me bad advice these last six years.”

He gave her a fatherly smile.  “I’m glad you think so. Then, here’s my advice.  No matter how he has angered you or what he has done -- and I don’t, for one minute, believe that you are unjustly angry at him; I have known Ben Solo for too long -- talk to him.  Hear what he has to say. And if, when you’ve finished talking, you’re still angry at him, so be it. He can reap his consequences. But you will regret it if you don’t talk to him when you have the chance.  Good communication can cure a host of ills.”

Rey stared at him, considering the advice he’d given her.  Part of her wanted to lay the whole situation before him to see if he still had the same advice for her.  Silly as it was, she still retained some shred of loyalty that prevented her from revealing Ben’s secret to him.  That thought opened another door of pain that she tried to keep closed. If war broke out, would she have to be the one to tell Leia and Luke that Ben truly had turned to the dark side?

Professor Kenobi patted her hand and eased himself out of his chair.  “I took the liberty of bringing you a sandwich. I’ll expect you at dinner, Rey?”

She nodded.  She could promise him that at least.  No matter what she did with his advice, she would not hide in her common room any longer.  Her stomach rumbled at the sight of the sandwich. Professor Kenobi had the satisfaction of watching her bite into it before he drifted out of the common room again.

It took her another hour after his departure to decide to follow his advice.  Just because she talked to him, Rey reasoned, didn’t mean he would persuade her.  She had thrown up walls between them now. She wouldn’t believe just any old explanation.

When she left the common room at dinner time, he was still there.  At the sight of her, he scrambled to his feet. It sent a fresh stab of hurt to see the wariness in his purple-ringed eyes, where there had once been nothing but trust between them.   _ He betrayed that trust _ , she reminded herself.   _ Not you.  He betrayed you. _   She swallowed hard and fought to keep her feet from fleeing.

“Please, Rey,” he said, his eyes cracked wide open and his voice ragged from disuse.  “Just give me five minutes. I want to try to explain.”

She gave him a stiff nod.  “I’ll talk to you, but not now.  I’m going to dinner. You should do the same.  I don’t want to make a scene.”

She saw some hope die in his eyes, but he nodded.  “Tonight?” he asked. She nodded before she could change her mind.  “Have you been to the Room of Requirement?” She nodded again. Poe had found the room early on and put it to various uses, few of them within the limits of the school rules.  “Meet me there at eight.”

She agreed and turned her back on him to walk down the hall to dinner.

~  ~ ~

True to her word, Rey walked down the seventh floor corridor at exactly ten to eight.  When she reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and his poorly dancing trolls, she found a door already etched into the usually blank wall.  With a trembling hand, she unlocked the door and entered the Room of Requirement.

Due to her connection to Poe, she had seen the room take many forms.  They’d used it a few times for dueling practice and meetings for their Inter-House League and gotten a cavernous hall spacious enough to fit all of them.  One time, they’d even managed hammocks suspended from the ceiling. The room she entered was unlike any of these. For one, it had made itself smaller than she’d ever seen before.  It looked most like a library in someone’s house, complete with bookshelves lining the walls, several couches and chairs, and a roaring fireplace. The fire provided the only real light in the room.

On the other side of the room, Ben paced back and forth, wringing his hands as he went.  She’d never seen him so anxious, even when they’d gone after the Cursed Vault months before.  He froze when he finally caught sight of her by the door.  

“Rey,” he said.  “You came.”

“I said I would,” she said, taking a seat on the end of the couch farthest from him and tucking her legs up to her chest.  Ben took her lead and sat in an armchair at least six feet from her. “I’m here. Let’s hear your explanation for joining the Death Eaters.  This should be good.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to begin.  He shifted a little under her gaze. “I…” Ben began but stopped and ran his hands through his hair until it stood on end.  “I don’t know where to begin.”

Rey had agreed to listen to him and his explanation, but that did not mean she had more patience for him than before.  “Why don’t you start with ‘I joined the Death Eaters because…’” she snapped.

Ben jumped up from the chair and threaded his fingers through his hair.  “I can’t bear you looking at me like that,” he bit out.  

“You said five minutes to explain.  You’ve wasted four of them dancing around the issue.  Do you have  _ any _ explanation or do you just want to get my sympathy?”  She shook her head at him, fed up with this before they’d really begun.  Her heart broke at the distance between them. “I don’t have any for you.  You pretend you don’t have a choice, but you do.  _ You _ joined Snoke.  You betrayed me and my trust and now you won’t even tell me  _ why _ .”

He spun to face her.  “I’m going to betray him,” he said, his hands fists at his sides.  He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, his voice going calmer.  “I joined Snoke to betray him.”


	39. On the Other Side

Time seemed to slow to a crawl around her as she processed what he’d said and tried to wrap her mind around the shift occurring inside of her.  Ben stared at her from across the room with bated breath as he waited for her response.  _ I joined Snoke to betray him. _   Rey stood and pressed her fingers to her temples, once again mirroring him.  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why did you need to join him? You could just join the Order, leave all this behind.”

She saw several emotions flash across his face.  “You really think Snoke would let me go that easily?”

“I know he wouldn’t,” she retorted, arms crossed over her chest.  “But the Order can protect you, Ben. You don’t have to do this.”

He punched the cushions of the couch, his breath leaving him in a frustrated hiss.  “No one can protect me, Rey. When Snoke decides he wants something, he gets it. No one can stand in his way.  I can’t just  _ leave _ .”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes and brace her hands on her hips.  “So, your solution is to turn spy. And you think  _ that _ is less likely to get you killed?  You think Snoke is less likely to murder you when he finds out you’re spying on him?  And how, exactly, do you plan on relaying all the information you glean?”

Ben stopped his pacing and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “It’s not about turning spy. It’s so much more than that.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded.  “You’re not making any sense.”

“Just sit down and I’ll explain,” he said, a plea in his eyes.  “Please, Rey.”

She gave up and sat.  Ben heaved a sigh of relief and sat in the armchair again.  “Do you remember anything about Snoke’s first rise from History of Magic?”

Rey nodded.  She’d done the required reading for the class back in second year and again in fifth, but she’d been so interested in the subject--and the legends that still walked Hogwarts’ walls-- that she’d read another book about it.  “Organa and Skywalker defeated him.”

“Defeated him, yes,” Ben said, nodding.  “But they didn’t kill him. They  _ couldn’t _ kill him.  No one has figured out why...until now.  If I don’t stay and betray him, Rey, the same thing will happen again.  History will repeat itself. The Order may defeat Snoke, but he’ll rise again in another decade or the decade after that and we’ll have to fight this war again.  Or he’ll win this time and no one will defeat him.”

“How do you know this?” she asked, but she couldn’t help the doubt that seeped in.  She didn’t believe him. Not yet. But something inside her wanted to.

Ben looked down.  The eyes that met hers again were more pained than she’d ever seen them.  “Snoke has been hunting me for my entire life,” he explained, his dark eyes trained on her.  “It started just before I came to Hogwarts, the whispers in my head. I couldn’t resist him. He could read my thoughts, my feelings, my fears, everything.  I only took the mark recently, but I’ve been with him for a while.” She closed her eyes against this information and shuddered. “It’s his greatest revenge.  My parents and uncle ruined his first rise. Now, he plans to use me for his second. Corrupt the son of the chosen one. And I let him.” He shook his head. “He’s training me to be his second-in-command.  Over time, he told me why he survived the end of the last war. And how he plans to survive this one, no matter what.”

Rey was sure she didn’t want to know, but there was no going back.  “What is it, Ben?”

“Very powerful Runic magic.  Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  I doubt even Professor Kenobi has seen something like this.  It makes the runes we encountered in the Vault look like child’s play.”  

He crossed to the bookshelves that lined the room and surveyed the titles until he found the one he was looking for.  He flipped it open and dropped it on the table in front of her. “It’s a linking spell at the most basic level,” he continued, closer than he had been in days.  “He has linked his soul, his very life force to other things that will outlast him.”

Rey leaned forward and scanned the pages he’d set before her.  What she read chilled her to the bone. “This is ancient magic,” she whispered.  “He might be the only person who knows about these runes anymore.”

Ben nodded.  “I don’t know where he got the idea.  The sequence itself isn’t that difficult, but it requires sacrifice and a lot of protection.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes.  Snoke was powerful. This kind of magic made him almost immortal.  “How many? How many links has he formed?”

“As far as I’ve been able to figure out,” Ben started and hesitated.  “Six.”

“ _ Six? _ ” she hissed.  The idea of making one seemed drastic and difficult enough but  _ six? _   Snoke must have feared death more than anything else.  “Are you sure?”

“I’m certain,” he answered.  

Something in his voice made her pause, but she pushed on.  “This linking sequence can only be used to bind his soul to one of a type of object.  For instance, if he bound his soul to a place, he could only do that once. How has he found so many different things?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said, sitting back down in his chair again.  “All I know is that he has done it. He has six tethers that keep him alive.  Do you see now, Rey? That is why I had to join them. If I find these and destroy them, Snoke will be vulnerable.  We can end this once and for all. There won’t  _ be _ a third war, Rey.”

She looked at the pages spread before her and back up to him.  He watched her in earnest, reading every movement for a sign of her thoughts.  “You can’t do this on your own, Ben,” she said at last, shaking her head. “This…” she gestured to the book on the table.  “This is beyond any one of us. You can’t do this alone. He’ll kill you.”

Ben’s face closed like a trap.  He sat back, his face smooth as steel.  “I have to. I won’t put anyone else in danger.  Not to mention how few people trust me and I them.”

Rey leaned towards him.  “You trust me, don’t you?” she said at once.  “And I trust you. I trust you, Ben. I’m furious as hell at you right now, but I trust you.  We can do this together.”

But Ben shook his head, pushing himself up from his chair again to pace around the room.  “No, you are not getting involved in this. I know you can help, Rey. You’re the brightest witch I know.  But this is too dangerous. I didn’t tell you about it before because I wanted to keep you as far away from it as possible.  I’m only doing it now because I can’t sacrifice your opinion of me.” His voice broke.

Rey left her perch on the couch and moved to stand in front of him, stopping the track he wore in the carpet.  “Ben, you can’t do this alone. I think highly of your skills, you know I do. But we’re  _ seventeen _ , Ben.  Let someone else take this burden.”

His lower lip shook.  “I can’t, Rey. It has to be me.”

“Why?” she begged him, grabbing his arms.  “Why does it have to be you?”

Slowly, Ben extracted his arms from her hold.  He lifted his shirt to reveal a mark on his chest like a tattoo, centered over his heart.  Rey tried to rebel from what her eyes saw. She took a step back from it. This was worse, worse even than the Dark Mark branding his skin.  “It has to be me, Rey. I’m the only one who can find them because I’m one of them.”

Bile rose in her throat.  He couldn’t have...he couldn’t seriously… “Please,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.  “Please tell me you didn’t, Ben.” She wanted to punch him in the nose all over again. She wanted to crush him to her chest and never let him out of her sight. 

The look he gave her was full of regret.  The dying light of the fire send flickering shadows over his face.  “I had to, Rey. The process that runic sequence has to go through...it’s incredibly complicated and it’s different for every person.  The only way I can figure out how to undo the sequence is by witnessing it. It was the only way.”

Tears choked her.  When did she start crying?  “Ben,” she gasped. “How can you be such an idiot?  There is no undoing a sequence like that. You have to destroy the thing his soul is tethered to.”

He nodded.  His shoulders slumped.  “I know.”

“You’ll  _ die _ , Ben.”  Merlin, she wanted to punch him.  She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him.  She wanted to hex him unconscious. She wanted to kiss him while she still could.

“I considered that,” he answered, looking down and shuffling his feet.  “Before I saw the sequence and I knew for sure. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“Yeah?  What about  _ me _ , Ben?  That’s not a sacrifice I’m willing to make.  What about your parents? Professor Skywalker?  Kenobi? Do you think that’s a sacrifice they wanted to make?” she demanded.  For good measure, she shoved him in the chest for his stupidity, but it had no force behind it.  He only stumbled back a foot.

“I’m sorry, Rey,” he said and sounded like he was.  “It was the only way. I can’t undo it now. If I don’t find them all and destroy them, this will all be for nothing.”

She had come back to herself a little while he spoke.  The floodwaters of her grief retreated back into their usual channels and steely ice took their place.  Fine. If he said he had no choice, then she didn’t either. Two could play at that game. “Then, I’m going to help you.”

Alarm crossed his face and his eyes at once.  “No, Rey, you’re not. I will not risk you.”

She fixed him with the coldest gaze she possessed.  “And I will not risk _ you _ .  You’ve been a bloody idiot about this mess from the start.  You really think you can figure all of this out on your own?  Conquer Snoke  _ on your own _ ?”

Doubt flitted across his face.  He masked it well. She’d give him that.  “I have to. I’ll find a way. I can’t risk it.”

“It’s not only your choice, Ben.  I want to risk it.” Like a bucket of cold water tossed over her, doubt slithered into her thoughts.  “Unless you’ve changed your mind...about us. I’ll help you regardless, but if you’re trying to get rid of me as nicely as you can, you can just say so.”

“Rey!” he protested and finally closed the gap between them, his large hands engulfing her shoulders.  “There is no one else I would trust with this. You don’t get it, do you? I’m doing this  _ for _ you,  _ because of _ you.  I can’t lose you in the process.  Hell, I thought maybe I could not tell you and bear the thought of you hating me just so you would be as far from this mess as you could be.  Apparently, I couldn’t deal with that for even a day.”

She squeezed his wrist and felt the tendons standing out beneath his skin.  Despite the tension, his grip on her was gentle. “Ben, you have to let me help you,” she said, softly this time.  “Imagine how I feel, watching you kill yourself like this. I can take care of myself. With the two of us, we have a better shot at figuring this out and beating him.”  She stepped closer to him and cradled his cheek in her hand. “Let me help you.”

He looked as if he hated the thought, but finally he nodded.  “Alright,” he said. “Alright. You were always better at runes anyway.”

“Promise me,” she pressed, gripping his wrist tighter to get his attention.  “Promise me you won’t go running off to do this by yourself.”

He nodded.  “I promise. It was a stupid thought anyway.  I can’t do this alone. I’ll fail.”

“ _ We _ won’t,” she swore.  Her heart clenched to see him open before her again.  Merlin, why had she doubted him? “I’m proud of you, Ben.  I wish to Godric you hadn’t decided on this, but I’m proud of you.”

He gave her a weak smile.  “You know,” he said. “When I cast my Patronus, that’s what I see.  You. You always believed in me, Rey, even when I didn’t deserve it.  Especially when I didn’t deserve it. I won’t betray your trust.”

“I know,” she answered.  “You never have.”

They had a thousand things to discuss and decide.  A thousand dangers loomed over them closer than ever.  Rey had never felt less sure of the future, but now she had direction.  Her worst fear, in a way, had been realized: she and Ben found themselves on opposite sides of the war.  But when she faced him on a battlefield now, she would know she had an ally. In a way, hadn’t their whole relationship led to this?  They’d done this before with lesser consequences.  

They would find the tethers.  They would destroy them. They would defeat Snoke.  Together.

And she would spend every waking moment finding a way for Ben Solo to survive this.


	40. Next Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I disappeared this weekend! Dealing with some personal things and work. Should be on track to post and write as usual. Enjoy! :)

The last of the holiday cheer evaporated even before the dawn of the New Year.  The day after her conversation with Ben, a rainstorm washed over the castle and grounds, cleansing the last of the snow as if by magic.  Gray clouds filled the skies like signals of the dangers to come. Inside the castle, though, was warm. They still had just over a week left to roam the castle as they pleased, free from classes and interruptions from other students.  Rey planned to use that time to their full advantage.

The night after her conversation with Ben, she couldn’t sleep.  Anxiety seized her under the night sky like lycanthropy. Instead, she sat in her empty dorm room by the light of a candle and the full moon shining through the window and made a list.  They had a thousand things to figure out, sure, but some were more important than others. And Rey had always been good at prioritizing.

First thing, she tapped the parchment with her wand and enchanted it to show only her and Ben the writing on it.  Then, she picked up her quill:

_ Method of Communication _

_ Safety Precautions _

_ How to Apparate? _

_ Secrecy with the Order _

_ Communication with the Order _

_ Emergency Procedures _

_ Basic Runic Spells and Practices _

_ Books on Tethers _

_ How to break a tether? _

The list went on and on.  Last, on the back of the parchment, in writing only she could read, Rey wrote:  _ Save Ben Solo’s life _ .

Even though it came last, that one was the most important.  However, it could not be done first. First, they needed to sort out some logistics and soon, before Snoke decided to call his followers as the prophecy predicted.

The prophecy.  It had been nagging at her in the past few days, as if demanding her attention to something obvious.  She had gone over it in her head a dozen times and concluded that, whatever they had to do, they had to do it fast.  Snoke, it was obvious, planned to call his Death Eaters soon. They had to be ready. She added a copy of the prophecy to her stash of papers slowly growing to encompass everything they knew about Snoke and the tethers so far.

Rey met Ben in the library the next afternoon.  He looked up when she entered, his eyes as wary as when she’d left the Room of Requirement the morning after their argument.  She had seen him in spurts since then, but that look had never left him, as if he expected her to start yelling at him again any minute.  Instead, she slid onto the seat beside him and tilted her head to peruse the titles on the worn covers. These books were unlike any she’d seen before.  Even in the slanted light of the library, there was something morbid and gruesome about them.

“From the Restricted Section?” she asked.  He nodded, earning a look of slight reproach.  “How’d you manage to get these?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he answered.  “I can’t believe you’re still worried about something as silly as entering the Restricted Section without permission.  We’re fighting a war against a mass murderer who happens to be immortal.”

Rey shrugged.  “You have to draw the line somewhere.”  She waited for his smile or at least a shred of humor but was disappointed.  He frowned at the books. “Ben,” she said, tugging at his sleeve to make him look at her.  “Is everything okay? I feel like you’re upset with me.”

“No, no,” he reassured her at once, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “I’m just exhausted and worried. And I suppose part of me still thinks you’ll wake up tomorrow and hate me.”

She stretched up and kissed his cheek.  He lifted his eyes to hers in amazement.  “I won’t hate you. I promise.” 

“Snoke’s getting stronger,” he whispered.  “I don’t know how much time we’ll have, but it can’t be much longer.”

Her heart plummeted into her stomach.  She’d been banking on a month at least.  Now, she realized, nothing could be guaranteed in this war, not even how much time they had together.  She pulled the list from her bag and showed him. “I suppose we should get to work, then,” she answered, offering him a small smile.  “I made a list. It helps me.”

His eyebrows crept up on his forehead.  “That’s a long list.”

“I think we should start with a method of communication,” Rey said, her finger resting beside the jotted line.  “If you really think we don’t have much time, that will help us the most. We have to have some way to communicate with each other even when you’re not at Hogwarts.”

Ben acknowledged that.  “Have you thought of any ideas?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head.  “I’ve considered a few things but none that hold up.  Whatever we choose, it has to be secret, secure, and undetectable even by Snoke.  We also need to be able to communicate in a pinch, in case one of us is in danger.”   _ In case you are in danger, _ she thought.  “I can’t think of anything that meets those criteria.  I thought about notes that could mirror writing, but it’s not secure and it can’t be done on the fly.  We need something...instant…”

“Like a telepathic link,” he said.  Her eyes shot up to his. That had been the only idea she could come up with, but she hadn’t wanted to mention it for its sheer absurdity.

“Yes,” she said, chewing on the inside of her cheek.  “Something like that. Is it even possible? Have you ever heard of a spell that can do that?”

“No,” he admitted.  He cradled his head in one hand and drummed a ceaseless pattern on the table with the other.  “I’ve heard theories, but none have been successful. Some wizards can use the  _ legilimens _ spell, of course, or have that natural ability, but it won’t work long-term or over such distances.”

“Is Snoke skilled with Legilimency?” she asked as the thought occurred to her.  That would present an added difficulty if they were to conceal their connection.

“Yes,” Ben answered at once with a shudder.  “But I have learned Occlumency well. He doesn’t break into my mind often anymore.”

She suppressed a shudder of her own.   _ Anymore _ .  How often had Snoke invaded his thoughts?  He’d mentioned something like it before. “We’ll still need something that is safe from his Legilimency.  I can’t think of any spell that would create such a thing.” Another idea occurred to her and she gripped his arm.  “What about a rune? Do you think a rune could create some sort of connection between us? Like a tether, but with less drastic consequences.”

Ben looked a little doubtful.  “We don’t even know much about the tethers yet.  If we use a runic sequence, something could go horribly wrong.”

“Well, we should research it first, of course.  We’re not going to go off enchanting ourselves with unknown magic.  Maybe there will be something in one of these books?” She reached out for one, but he grabbed her hand before she could touch one.  He looked a little sick.

“Rey,” he said, his eyes not meeting hers.  “I want you to know...if you change your mind, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Change my mind?”  She retracted her hand and put it on his shoulder instead.  “Ben, I’ve made my decision. I’m in this with you until the end.  I won’t turn away.”

“It’s just…” he hesitated.  “These runes, some of this magic, Rey...it’s what you would consider dark magic.  We’re getting into the territory of Blood Runes and spells that are guarded with people’s lives.  I know how you feel about that. I don’t want you drag you down that path with me.”

“I appreciate that, Ben,” she said, squeezing his shoulder.  “I really do. But I can’t let you do this yourself. This is war and my nice tidy lines of good and evil don’t work here.  I know this won’t be easy and…” She looked down at her hands. “I will probably end up doing things I never thought I would.  But if we don’t, who knows what will happen? We have to try.”

Ben swallowed hard and nodded, pulling the first book off the stack and towards them.  Rey choked on the lump in her throat when she saw that its words were written in what appeared to be blood.  He flipped through the crackling pages gingerly, giving off a cloud of dust with each one. Rey worried that the book would crumble to dust in front of them before they could find any useful information.  

After a while of silence, she chose the second book on the stack and started paging through it herself to speed up the process.  Thankfully, this one was written in plain old ink. Much of what the book said was useless or downright false. Some of it she could barely read.  Occasionally, she found something that might come in handy and added the page number to her notes.  

Their research went on in silence throughout the afternoon.  Rey finished turning through one book and moved on to another.  The pages between her fingers felt as old as Hogwarts itself. She wondered how much of this information even Professor Kenobi was familiar with.  How much of it had been all but lost? Few wizards bothered with runes anymore. There were spells that could accomplish almost everything and were better known.  Ben was right: many people now viewed runic sequences as dark magic and stayed away from them.

So, what was she doing turning through old runic spellbooks?  Perhaps this form of magic had been put to rest for a reason.  

Just as she considered that thought and contemplated abandoning her search, she came across something that caught her eye.  It spoke of a runic sequence that would link two wizards together in an unbreakable bond. The faded text towards the bottom of the page mentioned a mental component to the bond, but she couldn’t make out the rest of it.

“Ben,” she said, nudging him and making him jump.  “Look at this.”

He leaned over her shoulder, so close she could feel his breath on her neck, and squinted at the text.  “It looks promising. There’s not much there, though, and nothing about how to cast it.”

“True,” she said.  “But maybe we can find it in one of these other books.  They have to be sorted somehow into chapters or something.”

“You’d be surprised,” he muttered but flipped back to the beginning of his own tome.

Rey leaned in as close as she dared to the book and squinted at the text at the top of the page.  “Damn, it’s in French. Why the hell is it in French? What I wouldn’t give for Google Translate right now.”

“What’s Google Translate?  Is it a spell?” he said, but she just rolled her eyes at him.  

“It’s a muggle thing,” she told him.  “You wizards seriously don’t have a translation spell?”

“You’re a wizard too,” he reminded her.  “I’m sure there is a translation spell, but I don’t know it.  Can you make it out? Write it down and I might be able to translate it.”  

He leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look anyway.  She slowly copied out each letter as clearly as she could.  “You speak French? Of course you speak French.”

“My mother was raised by a prominent French family, remember?”  This time, it was Ben who rolled his eyes. “She only transferred to Hogwarts halfway through her schooling.  She went to Beauxbatons first. So, yes, she taught me French.” He smirked at her, the ghost of his usual self that lingered, and leaned into her a little more to read what she’d written.  “Soul link...or bond, something like that.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound extreme or nerve wracking at all,” she commented.  “It’s clearly a runic sequence meant for people, so let’s see if we can find it in any other books.”

They spent a while combing through the others.  Ben came up empty in the one he’d been reading. So did most of the other books they hadn’t reached yet.  Finally, he paused with one of the ancient books open before him.

“Here we go,” he said, his finger sliding across the page as he read.  “Ancient sequence for uniting the souls of two people in an unbreakable bond.  It creates a mental link between the two that can transmit complete thoughts or hazy emotions but no lies.  It seems to suggest that it’s safe but cannot be undone.”

A permanent bond with Ben Solo?  She hadn’t bet on that. Then again, she hadn’t bet on many things that were currently happening in her life.  She’d sworn to stay with him until the end. That included a permanent mental link between them, she supposed. If she balked at this, how would they manage everything else?

“It’s safe, then?” she checked again.  “Assuming we can cast the sequence correctly?”

“Safe,” he said, looking up at her.  “And permanent. I won’t blame you if you want to find a different way.”

Rey took a deep breath.  “We don’t have another way, and we’re running out of time.  Soul bond it is.”

Ben swallowed hard and nodded.  “The book has the sequence. It’s a long one and difficult.”

“Naturally,” she said.  They’d have to practice it before they cast it.  Surely messing up something so profound would have consequences.  She didn’t plan on finding out what they were.

His hand froze in his reading.  His back went stiff. “It’s a blood rune.”

Was she really prepared to do this?  She’d have to be. She could consider her stupidity in all its glory when this war had ended and Snoke was dead.  “We can do this, Ben.”

“It’ll leave a rune as a permanent scar,” he warned.  She nodded. They could do this. If they were to defeat Snoke, they had no other choice.

“We should copy the sequence until we know it by heart before we try it.  We can’t get it wrong,” she said, sliding over next to him so she could copy down the runes in her notebook.  She’d always been good at memorizing runic sequences. This one was a good deal longer than any others she’d attempted, but she’d have to get better and fast.  Before they’d finished their mission, she was sure to have to cast longer runic sequences than this.

“The end of this week,” she said.  They couldn’t waste any time. “Do you think you’ll have it memorized by then?”

He looked up at her, his dark eyes unreadable.  “Yes.”

“We’ll do it then.”


	41. Eight for a wish

As the end of the week drew nearer, Rey grew more nervous.  She read everything she could get her hands on about the runic sequence that would bind her to Ben permanently.  Truth be told, there wasn’t much out there. If few books even mentioned the sequence, fewer still gave any useful or even believable information.  That didn’t help her nerves at all. If something went wrong, would anyone, even Professor Kenobi, be able to help them?

She was glad her friends were gone and her dorm was empty.  If Rose or the others were there, they would have had her sent to the hospital wing for possible insanity.  She hadn’t slept well in days and it showed in the dark circles under her eyes. Books were scattered on every available surface belonging to both her and Rose.  Pieces of parchment lay everywhere across the floor like the debris from a hurricane. Some had even been posted on the walls. All said the same thing: the runic sequence written over and over again until her quill broke.  She had long since memorized the sequence, but writing it again made her feel like she could control something about this process.

Or something about her life, which seemed to be spinning out of control faster every day.  She had started the holiday with a solid stance on where she stood in this mess, with an uncomplicated relationship with her friends, with an only slightly complicated relationship with Ben.  Now, the line between good and evil had blurred and she knew she stood somewhere on that smudged line. After all, she planned to use a blood rune that evening.

How had she gotten here so fast?  A month ago, she would have balked at the very idea of blood runes.  Things had changed so quickly. She would do it, she decided, whether right or wrong.  She would do it for Ben.

She didn’t want to think about how her friends would react if they knew.  Or, worse, her mentors.

They met in the Room of Requirement that evening.  She arrived first as planned. The room looked much like it had the last time she was there: couch, fireplace, bookshelves, and all.  This time, she found herself pacing the length of the room, much like Ben had done before.

He stepped through the door soon after, carrying a bag of books embellished with runes on their covers.  He paused by the door, fiddling with the strap on his shoulder. She paused her pacing. Finally, he walked up to her and stopped a few feet away.

“Rey,” he said and waited until she met his eyes before continuing.  “You don’t have to do this if you’ve changed your mind.”

Rey shook her head, taking a deep breath.  “I’ll do it, Ben. I’ve decided.”

For the first time since Christmas, he kissed her, cradling her head in his hands as if afraid she would break.  Her nervousness subsided somewhat. They would be fine. The sequence would work. It had to.

“You practiced the sequence?” she confirmed.  He nodded and dropped his bag on the table beside her.

“Ready?” he asked.  They had little else to say.  His wand shook a little in his hand.  Rey nodded. Pulling out her wand, she pushed the furniture farther away.  The room seemed to grow to accommodate them until they stood on a floor clear for about twenty feet around with nothing but their wands.

Hesitantly, she held out her wand.  She remembered vividly the day she acquired it from Ollivander: hornbeam and dragon heartstring.  She’d always felt a strong attachment to her wand, more like an extension of herself than anything, and it felt odd to hand it over, even to Ben.  She took his own wand in turn. He seemed as reluctant to give up his wand as she hers, but it was necessary if they planned to complete the sequence.  The act of trading wands displayed the highest trust and a wand would not work properly if forced from the owner.

“What wood is it?” she asked without thinking, examining the ivory-like white wand.

“Aspen,” he answered, examining her wand in his hand.  “Phoenix Feather. Yours?”

“Hornbeam and dragon heartstring.”  Rey shook her head to clear it. They could not afford to get distracted, even by the wands they’d just traded.  “Ready?”

He nodded and they turned back to back.  Rey started her runes directly in front of her and worked in a circle.  Ben worked behind her in sync. She was pleased to find that his wand responded to her as fluidly as her own.  Halfway around, she met his runes, pulsing a slight shade of red. Without pause, she wrote her own blue runes over his red ones.

By the time they both lifted their wands, a pulsing purple circle of runes stood around them.  Rey wiped the sweat from her brow and felt the pulse point on her wrist. It thrummed at the same rate as the circle.  Satisfied, she turned to Ben. 

“Alright?” she asked him.  He nodded again, although he looked a little tired.  “Did you decide where you want your runes?”

Ben answered in the affirmative and tugged his sweater up to reveal the skin just beneath his arm.  She tried to ignore the curse scars that marked his chest. He didn’t look at her as she touched the point of his wand to his skin.

“Deep breaths,” she reminded him.  “This will hurt. Don’t move or I might mess up.”

He nodded and steeled himself against the oncoming pain.  She started tracing the first rune and felt it as his muscles tensed.  Blood flowed freely from the cut rune and she conjured a cloth to catch it before it could soak into his jeans.  She did nothing to staunch the flow, though. She couldn’t.

Ben gritted his teeth as she moved on to the third rune.  She tried to work quickly but accurately as well. One wrong rune and something horrible could happen.  What, she did not know. The wand moved smoothly in her hand as if it were built for her. She knew from her background reading that this was a good sign, yet she marveled at it anyway.  Finally, she finished the short sequence. As soon as she completed the last rune, the whole sequence scarred over and the blood vanished, absorbed by the runes themselves.

Ben took a shaky breath.  “Alright,” he said. “Your turn.”

Rey nodded and pocketed his wand.  Ben swallowed hard as she hitched up her shirt to reveal her ribcage, pointing out where she wanted the line of runes.  He placed the tip of her wand against her skin. “Ready?” She nodded without a word, not trusting herself to speak.

He started tracing the first rune.  The pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt before and she fought to keep herself still under his hands.  Each shape burned into her like a brand. She could feel the blood flowing and had the good sense to hope he stopped it before it ruined her favorite pair of jeans.  It seemed to go on endlessly, just pain and the trace of her wand against her skin. Would it ever end? It reminded her of the runes she’d drawn in the Cursed Vault.  They too had felt like they were draining the very life from her.  _ Merlin _ , she thought,  _ this better work. _   She’d have a scar to show for it regardless.

The pain stopped at last, leaving nothing but a dull emptiness in its wake.  She opened her eyes -- when had she closed them? -- and looked at Ben. “Did it work?” she asked, tucking her shirt back down to lay properly.  

He shrugged.  They each bore new scars and the runes still glowed on the floor, but she felt nothing.  Nothing seemed different. Had they failed after all, even though they had the right signs every step of the way?  Had they…

Rey doubled over, clutching her head.  Something felt  _ wrong _ , like she was seeing double in all of her senses at once.  She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Her brain was going to leak out of her ears.  Through the dimness of her vision, she saw Ben echo her stance, her wand clattering to the ground.  She just had the presence of mind to hope that it wouldn’t break before everything faded to black and she knew no more.

Ben woke up on the floor, cool stone against his face and the lingering smell of ash in his nose.  Somewhere around his head, he saw the faint traces of runes burned into the stone. They had stopped glowing.  How long it had been since he’d fallen there, he did not know.  

Only about a foot away, he saw Rey.  Her eyes were closed, her head pillowed on her arm.  He hoped she’d fallen that way so she didn’t hurt her head.  She looked so peaceful…beautiful. Not like he felt. His skull throbbed so hard it threatened to split open.  Hadn’t he been thinking something like that? Something about his brain leaking out of his ears? Maybe not.  

He had to check that she was okay.  She still had not opened her eyes. Not trusting himself to stand and risk falling again, he crawled towards her, inch after agonizing inch.  His hand skimmed the skin of her wrist. As it did, her eyes flew open and she gasped for air.

No, that wasn’t right.   _ Her _ eyes were open.  She stared at the ceiling.  She could feel Ben’s hand against her wrist.  How had she seen herself? Had...oh, Merlin, had she just been in his head?  The runes, then, had worked, but this was far more than they’d been prepared for.  Communication, sure that sounded nice, but hearing his every thought? Oh shit, could Ben hear  _ her _ every thought?

“Afraid so,” he answered, withdrawing his hand.  He looked away. “I’m sorry, Rey, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

His guilt washed through her as potent as a tidal wave.  She flinched under the weight of guilt that was not her own.  It pained her heart no less for belonging to someone else. She struggled to sit up.  “It’s not your fault, Ben.”

Rey felt his doubt before it even showed on his face.  “It is. I made you do this. I’m the reason we tried it in the first place.”

“I agreed to this, remember?” she snapped at him.  “Where’s my wand?”

Ben unearthed it from somewhere and handed it to her.  She traded back his own wand. It had been easy to use for the runes, but it somehow felt...wrong in her hand.  It distinctly was not  _ her _ wand.  But it did feel like a part of Ben and therefore dear to her.

“I know what you mean,” he muttered, looking down at his hands.

“Please stop doing that,” she said and felt the responding pang of remorse.  “I just need to wrap my head around all of this. I didn’t think we would actually end up hearing each other’s thoughts.”

_ Neither did I _ , she heard him say, except he never opened his mouth.

“Okay, okay.”  Rey squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temples with her fingers, as if that would make her headache go away.   _ Think, Rey, _ she willed herself.  “We can’t go walking around like this.  We have to focus it somehow. I’d go about my day hearing every single thing you think and feel and, frankly, I’d rather not.”

Ben agreed with that wholeheartedly.  She could feel that right away. “Have you ever studied Occlumency?” he asked at once.  She shook her head. “It’s the practice of shutting your mind. It might help. Let me see if I can do it to you.”

“What do you want me to do?” Rey asked.  She didn’t know how any of this works. She had never studied Legilimency either.  She didn’t know how to reach into someone else’s thoughts.  

As if sensing her panic, Ben covered her hand with his.  “We’ll get through this, okay?” he said, his eyes so dark and reassuring that they calmed her fears at once.  “Just try to pick something out of my head. I don’t care what it is. Anything.”

Rey focused.  What in his thoughts did she want to see?  What could she see without crossing a line?  Something simple. She’d try to feel the weight of her wand in his hand and read his thoughts about it.  She screwed her eyes shut and thought with all her might.

“Stop, stop, stop,” he hissed, holding his head.  “Too much. You don’t have to strain so much, just gently try to see.  I won’t try to stop you at first.”

Navigating her way into Ben’s head was like trying to steer herself out of a maze.  Every time she thought she made a correct turn, she ended up back where she started.  “Tell me about it,” he muttered. She ignored the fact that he’d just answered her thoughts again.  

Eventually, she found it.  She suspected that he had helped her along a little bit and tried to communicate as much to him.  The corners of his mouth twitched upward. She felt the familiar weight of her wand, although it looked much smaller in his hand.  What had he thought about it?  _ What kind of wand is this?  Hornbeam. Sweet Merlin, I can feel her righteous indignation through her damn wand. _

“Hey!” Rey protested, breaking her hold on his thoughts.  He laughed at the expression on her face. She peeked through his eyes and begrudgingly smiled when she saw how ridiculous she looked, pouting over a wand with her arms crossed over her chest.

He shrugged.  “You picked it.  Alright, alright, this time I’m going to try to block you out once you’re in.”

She nodded and tried to focus again.  There it was, faster this time. The familiar heft of her wand in his hand, snarky comments and all.  Maybe she could feel him do magic with it. That would be different. She sifted through his thoughts a little, looking for that...and met a wall, solid and unyielding.  It stretched on for as far as she could feel, creating a barrier around those thoughts.

“Well,” she said, rubbing her head.  “It worked.”

“Okay, good, that’s a start.”  He nodded, rubbing his own temples.  “I’ll have to teach you Occlumency and a little more about directing the channel between our thoughts.  I’m going to need some practice with that too. You did a good job, earlier, projecting what you were feeling.”  He shook his head a little. “Merlin, this is overwhelming, isn’t it?”

Overwhelming, she thought, was a massive understatement.


	42. Once Upon a December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And thank you so much for commenting! I love reading all of the comments, but I haven't quite gotten around to responding to them yet these past few very busy weeks. I promise, I will soon! Until then, keep them coming and enjoy the new chapter.

Rey massaged her temples and flopped back against the sofa cushions.  They’d been at this for hours and her mind rebelled against her. She could feel the throbbing in her head echoed in his.  Midnight had passed long ago, but neither of them made a move to leave the Room of Requirement. If they did, they’d have to face the world again, a world that suddenly felt stranger with this new connection between them.  It was difficult enough in this little room with only each other to focus on. She didn’t know what would happen when she had to balance his thoughts and hers and everything else around her…

“Again,” she said, sitting up straighter.  She had to master this. She would.

They had made some progress, she thought.  Her head still throbbed, but she was no longer overwhelmed every second with his thoughts.  A little more and they could be back to normal.

“Rey,” Ben said, his eyes unfocused on her.  “Maybe we should take a break. We’re not going to master this in one night.”

“We can’t,” Rey insisted, fighting the temptation to agree.  Her neck and shoulders ached with the tension gathered there.  Tiredness pulled at her eyes, begging them to close. Even the fire had started to die down, as if the room was also growing tired and wanted to be free of them.

“It’s not going to do us any good if we’re exhausted,” he reminded her, as much for his sake as hers, she thought.  “This is difficult to master and it takes a lot of practice. We should get some rest.”

Rey agreed at last, although reluctantly.  “I don’t know if I can handle leaving this room yet,” she admitted, knotting her hands together.  “If the connection stays as strong when we’re apart, it’ll be hard to focus.”

He acknowledged the truth in her statement.  Even now, after they had practiced for hours on end, she could still feel the tide of his thoughts and sensations pressing down on her, as if they would burst through her dam of protection at any second.  They couldn’t risk leaving. As if responding to their very thoughts, two beds appeared on the other side of the room, far enough away to feel respectable. Merlin, they looked so comfortable. What she wouldn’t give to sink down onto one and finally get some sleep.

“You’re right,” she said finally, not taking her eyes off the beds.  “We can practice more tomorrow. We’ll make more progress if we’re fresh.”

“I can take the couch,” he offered.  She could feel his awkwardness through their shared bond, but it remained his and didn’t smother her own thoughts.  Progress, she thought. She rolled her eyes at him.

“There are clearly  _ two _ beds, Ben,” she said, laughing a little at the blush that tinged his ears.  “I’m sure I can manage to sleep five feet from you.”

Rey climbed into one of the beds without bothering to even consider changing her clothes.  She had nothing to change into anyway, although she was sure the room could provide that as well.  At this point, she didn’t really care. After a moment’s hesitation, she heard him crawl into the other bed, dropping his shoes to the ground with an audible  _ thunk _ .

The fire put itself out and left total darkness behind it.  She could still feel Ben’s thoughts, even stronger perhaps in the black room.  They buzzed at the back of her skull. Left alone in the dark, she found herself drifting back to a question that had been bothering her for days, one that she couldn’t get out of her head no matter how she tried.  It was, she thought, the one barrier still left between her and Ben.

And now that they could communicate, even read each other’s thoughts, he would hear it whether she wanted him to or not.  Lying in the darkness, staring at the invisible ceiling, she decided to just ask it. Ben hadn’t fallen asleep yet. She could feel it.

“Ben,” Rey said, her voice sounding too loud in the quiet.  He grunted to acknowledge her. “Can I ask you a question?”

He heard the gravity in her voice or through her thoughts.  She heard him turn towards her. “Yes, of course. Anything.”

“When the Death Eaters attacked the orphanage,” she said and felt him stiffen.  “Were you there?”  

She hadn’t seen him at all that day.  He had looked so pale the night before and the same when he’d returned, blaming it on his headache, but she had put the pieces together for herself.  Still, she had to know for sure. Had he fired any of the curses that killed those children?

Could she forgive him if he had?  Maybe it was better not to know after all.  But the question hung in the air, and she couldn’t take it back.

“Yes,” he said finally.  Did her heart clench with the pain of it or did his?  Maybe both. “Yes, I was there.”

“Did you…” she hesitated.  She didn’t know how to ask her next question.

“No,” he answered her half-question.  Relief washed through her. On the other side of their bond, there was no relief, only pain.  “I had only completed the tether ritual that day. Snoke wanted me close by but not involved.”  He was silent for a long time. “I saw it all, though.”

Rey pushed her grief aside as best as she could.  She didn’t want to add to his pain. In his own head, silent now, he relived the horrors of that night, the rooms bathed in blood and the corpses of muggle children.  But he kept his thoughts dark from her, sealed behind an impenetrable wall. Although she could not sense any of what he had witnessed that night, she could feel his resolution to keep that pain from her.  He did not want to burden her with it.

“I’m sorry, Ben,” she said.  She did not regret asking, for now there were no walls between them, but the asking had brought fresh wounds back to the forefront.  Still, Ben was silent.  

Against her better judgement, Rey slid from her bed and crossed to his.  When she touched his arm, he jumped, every muscle as tightly wound as a spring.  She crawled into the cold space beside him and wrapped her arms around him, whispering her forgiveness into the darkness.  After minutes or hours, he eased, his breath coming easier. They fell asleep like that, her hand still resting in his hair.

Rey woke to blinding blue-tinged light.  It confused her for a moment, so different from the hazy flickering of the room.  As her vision cleared, she realized that she stood in the Great Hall in the midst of the Yule Ball.  But she was not  _ Rey _ at the Yule Ball.  She looked down and found herself clad in dress robes.  It was Ben’s eyes she saw through, not her own. She blinked and tried to adjust to seeing the world from this new height.

He searched for someone.  She could feel it in the way his eyes scanned the room and he clenched and unclenched his fists.  As he did, he hesitated in the door, stepping to the side to allow other late arrivals to enter around him.  His eyes paused on a green-clad figure, and his heart rate spiked. It took Rey a long moment to realize it was her.

She supposed it was true when people said that no one would recognize himself if they met face to face.  But she did revel in the unique opportunity to see herself through someone else’s eyes.  _ Beautiful _ , the word floated through his mind and hers at the same time.  It was certainly Ben’s, for though she could appreciate how her outfit had turned out that night, she nevertheless could pick out her flaws even from this distance.  Ben saw none.  

All at once, her presence felt like an invasion.  If this dream (she supposed that was what it was) carried on, she would witness a whole host of feelings that perhaps he wanted to keep from her.  But she couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. Rey wasn’t sure she wanted to. That made her feel even more guilty. 

She settled back and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible for all the good that would do.

Ben watched as Finn led Rey out onto the dancefloor.  She laughed while he spun her between the dancers, both so light on their feet they could have been walking on air.  Her face was so bright, her eyes fastened on Finn, she could see why he had drawn the conclusion he did.  

Ben’s mind spun with a haze of emotion.   _ Are they dating? _ he wondered.   _ She would have mentioned it.  Maybe it’s new. Maybe she wouldn’t have said anything.  She knows I don’t like Finn. Why would she tell you, you idiot?  Why would she even bother to tell you? She doesn’t see you in that way.  She wouldn’t even think to. _

He had to move.  He had to do  _ something _ other than stare at her like a lovestruck idiot.  Merlin, he needed a drink. He headed for the drink table, fervently wishing for firewhisky.  He found none of that but did come face to face with Phasma.

“Well, you shine up nice,” the tall blonde said, glancing over him once.  “Have you seen Hux? I wonder if he decided to skive off after all.”

Ben shook his head to both clear his mind and answer her question.  Somewhere behind him, Rey still danced with Finn. “He’s not skiving off, unless he spent an hour on his hair for a jaunt to the library.”

Phasma snorted.  “Merlin, what a wanker.  And you look positively miserable.  Why did I agree to go to this mess again?”

“To dance?” he asked, offering her his arm.  She raised her eyebrows at him but didn’t object.  As he led her out onto the dancefloor for less than half a song, he hoped this at least would get his mind off of Rey.

It did not.  If anything, it made it worse by bringing him closer to her.  He could hear her laughter echoing in his head like a bad song.  Or the best song he’d ever heard. He tried to focus on Phasma and seemed to complete the steps passably, but his mind was elsewhere.  Once, over Phasma’s shoulder, he could have sworn he locked eyes with Rey. Merlin, he had to say something to her. His mind roared with all of the unanswered questions.

When Finn led her off the dancefloor and kissed her hand, his conclusion sealed itself in stone.   _ I’m too late.  I waited to long. _   He deposited Phasma by the drink table again and his feet started moving without his permission...towards Rey.  He didn’t even know what he would say. What did he want to say? Was there anything to say?  _ Please don’t love him.  Please see me.  _ Merlin, what an idiot.  Ben found himself face to face with her before he could make up his mind.

“Rey,” the word fell from his startled mouth.  Merlin, she looked even more beautiful up close.  What was he supposed to say now?  _ I want you to date me, not Zabini? _   Merlin’s beard, what a bloody idiot he was.  “I didn’t know you were dating Zabini. Congratulations.”

There, he thought, at least he’d managed it without looking like a total arse.  He didn’t think he sounded accusatory. Had he sounded accusatory? Her brow furrowed, and he thought maybe he’d fucked something up anyway.  Didn’t he always? Here was the one girl he’d ever fancied and she’d started dating sodding  _ Zabini _ before he could get his act together and ask her out.  He couldn’t blame her for that. Why would she want to date an arsehole like him when Zabini was nice and a Gryffindor and everything she probably wanted in a bloke.  Bloody hell, he needed a drink.

He couldn’t stand to be in her presence anymore.  Ben brushed passed her and vanished into the crowd.  He realized too late that he hadn’t even gotten a drink, not even a butterbeer.  Now he could see Rey by the drink table and he wasn’t about to go anywhere near her again.  He didn’t much feel like dancing either nor talking to Phasma or Hux, who had finally made his belated entrance.  He settled for standing by one of the Christmas trees, pretending to inspect its decorations.

Ben felt nothing but crushing disappointment now.  He couldn’t even be mad at her for it. What reason did she have for choosing him over Zabini?  Him, the traitor to his family name, the Death Eater with the Dark Mark burned into his skin? The right hand man of Snoke himself?  If she knew all of that, she wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about him. She’d probably hex him into next year. He deserved it.

When the year started back in September, he’d never dreamed that he would fall in love with the mudblood princess of Hufflepuff House, the Golden Girl of Skywalker and his mother.  Hell, she was even his dad’s favorite. He couldn’t stop talking about her flying. Did it matter that his son was also an ace flyer? Nothing compared with Rey Niima, Hufflepuff’s Seeker.  

She was everything his parents had always wanted him to be: smart, kind, athletic, determined, and  _ good _ .  They’d taken an immediate shine to her -- why wouldn’t they?  That alone was enough to make him hate her. Worse was when she started showing him up in all of his favorite classes.  Just who did the mudblood think she was?

Ben shook his head.  He realized he’d been staring at the one tree for too long, so he switched to another.  He’d been such an idiot. Getting paired with her for rounds was the best thing that had happened to him all year.  She was the only one who could make him see clearly what kind of hole he’d made for himself to lie in. But clearly that did not translate to attachment on her part.  He’d have to accept that. He wasn’t willing to give up Rey Niima as his friend.

The whole dance suddenly seemed futile to him.  He could just leave, he realized. No one would even bat an eye.  Phasma and Hux would ask questions later, sure, but no one really cared if he stayed and he’d built such a reputation for standoffishness that it could be easily brushed off.  He got bored. This shit was stupid anyway. Moving on. Yes, he could do that, and then he wouldn’t have to stay and watch Rey dance with Zabini all night. Zabini who’d made all the right choices to his wrong ones.  A night wallowing in his common room sounded much better.

Ben headed for the door and out into the entrance hall.  He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it empty and encountered no one on the way.  Footsteps sounded behind him, but he paid them no mind until the sound of his own name echoed against the ceiling.  He turned to see Rey pursuing him. His heart clenched. He’d have to get a hold of himself. Even being close to her felt like a stab in the heart.

“Where are you going?” she asked, her head tilted back so she could look him right in the face.  Merlin, she looked amazing. Why did she have to be dating Zabini?

He played it cool.  “Thought I’d turn in for the night,” he said with a shrug.  Everyone knew how antisocial Ben Solo was: the perfect opposite of his parents.

The next words that left her mouth gave him a heart attack.  “But I haven’t even danced with you yet,” Rey said with a little smile that drove him nuts, her head tilted to the side as if he were a puzzle that she’d solved ages ago.  Godric, as if she could read his thoughts.

“You want to dance with me?” he repeated, just to make sure he hadn’t hallucinated the interaction.  She nodded. His heart sank again when he remembered the events of the night. Sure, she wanted to dance with him.  As a friend. Did people do that? “I don’t think your boyfriend would like that much.”

Her grin only widened.  “About that,” she said, a little breathless.  “ I don’t have a boyfriend. Never have, actually.  Definitely not Finn. As a matter of fact, if you hadn’t been so focused on escaping the dance, you would have seen him snogging Poe.  You see, I’m not his type, as it turns out.”

His first thought was that he’d never taken her for a cruel person.  She was mocking him. She’d realized how upset he was and had come out to mock him.  Ben quickly realized that Rey would never do something so heartless to anyone, especially not someone she called a friend.  But she couldn’t be serious...even if she wasn’t dating Zabini and had no plans to, that didn’t mean she wanted to date  _ him _ .  But, Merlin, that smile almost gave him hope.  

He breathed again as the tension left him.  He still didn’t know if she wanted to date him, but at least now he had a shot.  He hadn’t yet run out of time. So, when she asked for a dance again, he took her hand and walked back into the Great Hall with her.  

He didn’t yet have the confidence to make his move, he thought, but he would.  During the holidays. He would gather his courage and ask her during the holidays, when there was no one to get in their way.  Not Hux, who glowered at him from across the room; not Poe, who looked primed to punch him in the face; not even Finn, who looked much less upset about the whole thing than he would have thought.

Ben didn’t really see any of them, however.  He kept his eyes fastened on Rey and her smile and enjoyed the feeling of having her in his arms, if only for this moment.  All hell would break loose when they left the dancefloor, he knew. So, he kept her for one dance and then two, just to see how long he could get away with it.  

He didn’t kiss her.  Not yet. But he would.  Godric be damned, he would.


	43. Morning Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from my holiday break! Apologies for disappearing without a trace and for failing to respond to comments yet again. I will get around to them eventually, perhaps when I'm a little less overwhelmed. Enough excuses! I hope you enjoy this latest chapter :)

Rey awoke with a queasy stomach and the faintest reminder of last night’s headache.  The memory of her dream (or was it a memory itself?) remained as vivid as when she’d first seen it.  Sometime in the night, she’d rolled over to the other side of the bed, her back to Ben’s sleeping form.  The awkwardness of finding herself in his bed in the morning settled on her at once. A flush covering her cheeks, she tried to sit up as slowly as possible and escape before he woke to find her still there.  But her movements jostled the bed ever so slightly and his eyes shot open, locking on her at once.

“Morning,” she mumbled, sure her face had gone cherry red by that point.  

Ben sat up, running a hand over his face.  She could feel a glimmer of tension and confusion through their bond and it made her feel a little better about the situation.  “Sleep well?” he asked. She nodded, picking at her rumpled shirt. “How’s your head?”

Rey appreciated that he asked instead of just peering into her mind.  She could barely feel their bond at all. She supposed that was how it would be eventually, once they’d mastered this thing between them.  Across the room, the fire sprung to life again. “It feels a little better. Yours?”

If his head felt anything like his hair looked, sticking up wildly from his head, she imagined he had a terrible one.  However, Ben just shrugged. “Not too bad. I can’t hear your thoughts either, so I think we’re making progress. Can you hear mine?”  She flushed at once at the dream she’d had last night. “I’ll take that as a yes, then,” he said, his ears tinged red.

Rey shook her head quickly.  “Oh, no, I can’t hear your thoughts.  It’s just that...I’m sorry, Ben, I couldn’t help it, but I had a dream last night and I think it was one of your memories.”  

She still couldn’t read his thoughts, but she caught a blip of emotion from his side, just enough to know that he was worried about exactly what she’d seen.  “Oh, it wasn’t much,” she hurried to reassure him. “I saw...well, the Yule Ball.”

“Oh.”  His shoulders relaxed at once.  “Well, I suppose that’s not too embarrassing.  I have a confession, though. I also had a dream--or, rather, a memory--about the Yule Ball.  From your perspective.” He laughed a little and looked down. “I have to say, dancing with Zabini was not high on my priority list.”

Rey laughed.  The room relaxed a little around them.  “Well, I suppose that’s only fair. And, as you said, it’s not  _ too _ embarrassing.”

His brow furrowed.  “I wonder if there’s a way to stop that while we’re asleep or will it just continue?  We can’t very well stay up all night blocking the connection.”

That thought was a rather unsettling one.  One or two dreams were fine, and she couldn’t say she regretted witnessing that particular event from his point of view, but she did not want him in her head witnessing every major event from her life.  Especially when some of them probably involved her thinking a lot of vitriol at him.

“I suppose that’s another thing to look into,” she answered.  “But you’re right. I can’t hear your thoughts as much now, just vague emotions.  Do you think the bond...settles over time or something?”

He shrugged.  “It could be. Or we’re getting better at focusing on other things.  We can’t go around with two sets of thoughts in our heads all the time.”

“Agreed,” she said.  “I suppose we should keep practicing then.  We do need to be able to use the bond, at least to send messages.”

She moved over to the couch and tucked herself up on it.  It was the same couch as when he’d told her why he’d joined the Death Eaters.  She remembered sitting in that same spot then, staring at the green whirls of the fabric and wishing he had a good explanation for breaking her heart.  Things had changed abruptly again, as jarring as the first time. They no longer stood on opposite sides of the war, but now they faced increasing dangers.  He took the side of the couch opposite her.

“I can feel that you’re afraid,” he said honestly.  “I am too.”

“I know,” she whispered.  Most of her fears revolved around him and what he’d chosen to do.  “You have to be careful, Ben. Please.”

“I will be,” he promised.  “I swear I’ll be as careful as I can be.”  She could feel his own emotions through their bond.  Fear, anxiety, dread, and a heaping of guilt.  

“Rey,” he continued, his eyes focused on the fabric of the couch instead of her.  “We should have talked about this earlier. I...I have to play the spy. You know that, obviously.  But right now, that’s the most important thing. Without that, I can’t take down Snoke. No one can.  I will try to help as much as I can in other areas, but...I’m going to have to make choices, Rey. I’m going to have to do things that…” he swallowed hard.  “Make me sick just thinking about them. I’m not going to be a hero in this story.”

Rey lunged forward and caught his hand.  “ _ We _ will have to make choices.  It’s not just you, Ben. I won’t let you face this alone.  We will make choices and we’ll face what we have to. I know this will be ugly, but if you’re not a hero in this, neither am I.  We’ll do it together.”

“I don’t want to do that to you,” he confessed.  “I don’t want you to see those things.”

She repressed the urge to roll her eyes at him.  “I’m not a delicate flower, Ben. I’ve seen things.  I’ve seen horrors that you wouldn’t believe. I’ll be fine.  We’ll get through this together.”

She could feel his misgivings radiating from him, but he nodded and straightened his shoulders a little.  “We need to be able to communicate when we’re apart, send messages down the bond. I think we should practice.”

Rey agreed.  The whole situation was a little odd, sitting across from one another, trying to beam messages and feelings into his head without speaking.  They started small. She tried to think a simple message at him. The only problem was she couldn’t come up with something to say now that she had to.  She scrunched her eyebrows and thought the first thing that came to mind at him. After a moment, he shook his head at her.

“You’re trying, right?” he asked.

Rey stopped beaming her message at him and frowned.  “Really, Ben? Merlin, you can read my thoughts any other time except the one time I want you to?”

“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough,” Ben answered with a smirk.  

“I  _ am _ trying,” she snapped.  “Maybe you should give better instructions.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Just try again,” he said.  “Don’t think so hard. You’re probably blocking yourself.”

Rey let out a frustrated sigh and closed her eyes.  Maybe it would help her focus to not see his smug face smirking at her.  Maybe she’d block his first attempt just so he could see how it felt. She focused on her thought again and cracked an eye to see if his expression had changed.

It had.  He looked exasperated.  “Are you seriously thinking  _ I’m hungry _ at me?  Really, Rey?”

“What?”  She shrugged.  “I am! We’ve been at this for ages!”  He rolled his eyes again. “Oh, hey, it worked!” she realized belatedly.  

“Great,” he huffed.  

“Does that mean we can get breakfast?” she asked, stretching her arms over her head.  “I’m starving.”

“You know we can’t go out there until we master this,” he reminded her.  Rey huffed out her frustration and hunger.  

“I managed to send you a message, didn’t I?” she said, slumping back against the couch.  How long would he keep her here? She just wanted to eat  _ something. _   But she tried to see passed the rumbling in her stomach and the fog in her head.  Merlin, it still ached a little at the back. Would she have reconsidered this connection if she’d known it would come with a constant headache?

Ben glanced over his shoulder and smirked, taking her hands in his.  “I think you’ve sent your message to the room as well. It’s found provisions for us.”

Rey glanced over her shoulder and groaned at the sight of a full breakfast still steaming on the table.  “How did it do that? Magic can’t create food.”

“Who cares?” Ben asked.  “Don’t you want breakfast?”

They sat down to eat and the fog cleared from her head a little.  She consented to practice more for the rest of the morning until they could send their messages as easily as breathing.  It did make her feel a little better that they could use the bond for its intended purpose.  

Later that afternoon, they agreed to continue to practice periodically throughout the day.  Rey turned to leave when Ben gasped and grasped his arm.  

“Ben, what is it?” she asked, turning back to Ben and reaching out for him.  He doubled over, hissing in pain. She wrenched back his sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark, burning and inflamed around the edges.

“It’s him,” he gasped, his panicked eyes meeting hers.  “He’s calling us.”


	44. Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogwarts returns from Christmas Holidays to find many of their own absent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, after some reflection, I've reluctantly decided to reduce my posts officially to once a week. That's basically what I've been doing recently (sorry), but I just can't keep up the posting schedule with working two jobs. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a little farther ahead again and we can go back to twice a week when things calmed down. Don't worry! I'm in no danger of abandoning this fic. And I hope you'll stick around every Wednesday for a new chapter :) I really do appreciate all of your comments and support. And without further ado...our next chapter.

Rey hurried down the hall, her footsteps echoing off the stone walls, and slid to a stop by the colossal doors of the castle.  A few other students dawdled in the hall, staying off to the side in hesitant clusters. Professor Organa stood by the door, her face pale and drawn but otherwise normal.  Only Rey could discern the difference. While many of the students could guess the reason, only Rey knew the true depth of it.

She tried not to look at Professor Organa as she waited.  Finally, the first of the students appeared. The usual jovial attitude of the students fresh from the Hogwarts Express was absent this day.  They trailed in with downcast faces and jumpers pulled tight. She scanned their faces searching for the ones she wanted to see. At last, Rose rushed out of the mass and barrelled straight into her.

“Merlin’s beard, Rey, you have to tell me everything?  Is it true? Has Ben really gone off without a single word?”

~ Three Days Earlier ~

She gripped Ben’s arms as he dropped to the floor in pain.  “He’s summoning you now?” she asked, hoping he could still hear her and answer through the pain.  “When do you have to go?”

“Now,” he gasped.  “He doesn’t like delay.”

“Will you return?” she asked, still half-supporting him.  He shook his head. “Well, you can’t very well leave with nothing at all.  Come on.”

Rey threw his arm over her shoulder and stumbled their way out of the Room of Requirement.  Somehow, they made it the several floors down to the Slytherin dormitory, still mercifully empty for the remainder of the break.  He had recovered enough to walk into his dormitory unsupported. She summoned his suitcase and helped him shove everything he could in there, including his broom with the help of a magical extension charm.  He winced with a fresh wave of pain.

“I have to go,” he gasped.  “It’ll only get worse.”

She shoved the suitcase into his hands.  “Go,” she said, framing his cheeks with her hands and kissing him full on the mouth.  “I’ll continue our research. Go and be safe.”

“I’ll send you a message soon as I can to tell you I’m safe,” he said, squeezing her hand in his.  “I’m sorry, Rey.”

“It’s hardly your fault,” she said, though she felt tears brimming in her eyes.  “Now, go!”

~ ~ ~

“Is it true?  Has Ben really gone off without a single word?” Rose asked.

“It’s true,” she told her as Poe and Finn caught up with them and nearly slammed into her with the surging of the crowd.  She dropped her voice. “Don’t mention it too loud. Professor Organa isn’t taking it well. I can only imagine Han.”

“Bloody bastard,” Poe growled.  Rose raised her eyebrows at him.  “Well, it’s rotten to go and do that to his parents.  Everyone knows where he’s gone.” Poe looked between their stares as if they’d gone nuts.  “He and all the other Slytherin bastards to boot.”

“Not all Slytherin bastards,” Jyn said from behind him.  Poe swung around and the dark cloud evaporated from his face.  Cassian stood beside him, wearing a jumper that was decidedly not Slytherin green.  He nodded to Rey.

“I’m not sure Cassian counts as a Slytherin bastard,” she reminded Jyn, who didn’t look nearly as convinced.  She did notice how close they stood, though.

“How many of the Slytherins are gone exactly?” Rose asked.  Finn looked away as she did.

For the first time, Poe looked troubled instead of angry.  “I bet I can name a few. I didn’t see any scrawny red headed snakes on board the Hogwarts Express or any frigid bitches.”

“Poe,” Finn chastised quietly.  Poe shrugged off his concern but had the decency to look away. 

“Did you have a Happy Christmas?” Rey asked, hoping to distract them from the topic that threatened to choke her if she dwelled on it for too long.  It did the trick. Jyn rolled her eyes.

“Mum and dad have been beside themselves for weeks.  They pour over the newspaper every morning like it’s got the world’s answers in it.  It doesn’t, though. Just more bloody killings and Death Eaters on every page.”  

“My parents too,” Poe added, frowning.

“Well, there is a war on,” Rose offered by way of explanation.  “There’s good reason to read the papers.”

And they had arrived right back at the very thing she’d hoped to avoid.  The war. Little else seemed to occupy their minds these days. She couldn’t escape it no matter where she looked or whom she turned to.

“Until two days ago,” Finn said, frowning to match Poe.  His fists clenched and unclenched where they crossed over his chest.  “There’s been nothing in the papers about him for two days.”

“The writers must actually have to work.  Can’t just fall back on Snoke news,” Kes Dameron said, appearing behind them and throwing his arm over his younger brother’s shoulder.  The joke fell on deaf ears. “Bloody best thing that ever happened to the Prophet if you ask me.”

“No one asked you,” Cassian said, frowning in the general direction of the Dameron brothers.

No one laughed, despite Dameron glancing between them.  “Aren’t you all sorry saps. I thought you’d be happy to see half the Slytherin squad gone.  We’ll trounce their second strings. I hear they don’t even have Ben Solo there to guard the hoops.  Is it true, Rey? You stayed behind for the holidays. Is Solo really gone?”

Rey swallowed hard, trying to keep her true feelings from showing on her face.  “Yes, it’s true,” she said. “He’s been gone for days.”

“Good riddance, I say,” Kes spoke over her last words.

“Kes,” Finn said with a dark look, standing ever so slightly in front of Rey.  “Shut the hell up.”

Kes looked shocked for a moment before he burst into laughter.  “Good thing Poe decided to snap you up. You’re a good one. Alright, alright, I know where I’m not wanted.”

Thankfully, Kes decided to leave them mercifully alone.  Rey heaved a sigh of relief. Rose glanced at her out of the side of her eye.  “Well,” she said, stifling an enormous yawn. “I’m exhausted. I’d like to unpack again.”

Finn exchanged a glance with her that Rey could not read.  “Right you are. We’ll see you at dinner, won’t we?”

“Of course,” Rey supplied for the both of them.  “I’m so happy that you’re all back.”

Rose grabbed her hand and tugged her down the hall towards their common room.  The other Hufflepuffs rushed around them. Rey usually enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the students returning to Hogwarts, the shouts and tugs of the younger students and the excited chatter of the older students.  But today, it all felt empty. She still looked in vain for Ben among their faces, especially those in green, but saw him nowhere. Not that she’d expected to.

Rose rushed them through the common room and into their dormitory, closing the door behind them even though their other two roommates had not returned.  “What’s happened, Rey? First, you were  _ dancing _ with Ben Solo and now you look upset that he’s gone?  I mean, I suppose we’re all upset in a way, but you’re more upset than the rest of us and I can’t help but feel that it’s about Solo specifically.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Rey answered, avoiding her friend’s eye.  

“You do, Rey,” Rose said with a hint of a frown.  “You can talk to me, you know, whatever it is.”

Rey looked into her friend’s dark and sincere eyes.  They softened in her eager face. Could she? Could she tell her what plagued her thoughts, her worry for Ben?  Could she tell any of them, Rose or Finn or Poe? Would it put them in more danger? Would it put Ben in more danger?  No, she had sworn to Ben that she would tell no one, not even her closest friends.

So, she turned back to Rose and said, “I just lost my orphanage, Rose, the only home I’ve ever known.  If I’m upset about Ben, it’s because he betrayed me.”

Rose’s face crumpled, and Rey felt guilty for the half-truth and for pulling that card.  “Oh, Rey,” she said at once, pulling her into an embrace. “Of course you’re upset. I’m so sorry.  I didn’t realize you and Ben had become so close.”

Her pity hurt as badly as her ignorance had.  Rey fervently wished she would just leave the matter aside and let her deal with her pain alone.  “I don’t want to talk about this, Rose. Won’t you tell me about your holiday instead?”

Her friend hesitated.  She could see it on her face.  But she gave Rey’s shoulders one last squeeze before she flopped down on her bed and started telling her all about her holidays, about the extended family that came into town, about her squabbles with Paige.  It comforted Rey to slip out of her own troubles and into her friend’s life for a moment, where there was no war and no betrayals and no missing Ben Solo. Or, at least, where the absence of Ben Solo was not noted.

But soon she found herself wondering again where Ben was and if he was okay.  She hadn’t heard a single word from him for two days and she was afraid to initiate conversation, lest his radio silence meant danger if they spoke.  She longed to reach out to him, just to know that he was still alive and safe. Would she feel it, if he died? Would that sever something fundamental in her?  Would she know through their bond?

“Rey?” Rose asked, interrupting her thoughts.  “Rey, are you listening?”

She shook herself.  “Oh, yeah, sorry, Rose.  I’m just a little tired. What did you say again?”

Rose frowned at her a little but didn’t press the issue, for which Rey was grateful.  “I asked if you liked your present?”

Rey grinned, the expression feeling only half-false on her face.  “Leave it to you to send me a jumper of all things. I have a perfectly good one, you know.”

Her friend smiled back, reassured.  “You clearly need another one, since you’re constantly wearing that holey thing everywhere.”

“Not  _ everywhere _ ,” Rey insisted, folding her arms over her chest.  “I wear it to Quidditch practice. Why do you want me to get my nice sweater all dirty?”

“You don’t get it dirty,” Rose retorted, rolling her eyes.  “You never fall in the mud. You’re usually doing that to other people.”

“I get sweaty,” she reminded her.  “And sometimes it rains. And, yes, occasionally I fall in the mud when I’m trying out a new move.  I’m not a perfect Quidditch player, you know.”

“Well, now you have two un-holey sweaters and you can wear your old one to practice and your new one to games,” her friend insisted.  “Unless you didn’t like it.”

“I love it, Rose, and you know that perfectly well.”

She gave Rey a begrudging grin and checked her watch.  “Oh, it’s nearly dinner. Finn will kill us if we’re not down there on time.  He’s been dying to see you. Are you ready?”

“Suppose so,” Rey said, pushing herself up from her bed again.  In truth, she hated stepping foot in the Great Hall these days. Every time, she couldn’t help but look for Ben, especially now that the house tables had returned as usual.  And every evening that she ate in the Great Hall, she remembered the night he found her lying on the table, drunk and melancholy.

When would she see Ben again?  Would he ever set foot in Hogwarts again?


	45. One for Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snoke's been silent for weeks. What could he be planning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your supportive comments! I'm planning on getting to some of them tonight, although I don't think I'll get to respond to all of the lovely ones tonight, there are so many! I hope you enjoy this update. See you Wednesday next week.
> 
> Update: so, I know I'm like a month and a half behind on commenting, but my comment box is also playing tag around my screen. So...I'll be resuming the replies tomorrow. Happy reading in the mean time!

Classes resumed on a wet January day not long after the students returned to Hogwarts.  The hallways seemed quieter than usual, the students more subdued. Her classes felt emptier.  Strangely enough, she found herself missing the other Slytherins too, not so much for their personalities -- she could do without Hux, thank you very much -- but for the feeling that everything was alright.

On the first Monday of the new term, Rey walked into Ancient Runes alone.  Professor Kenobi looked up from where he sat at his desk, reading over a piece of parchment, and gave her a sad smile.  She returned it and found a seat. Only one other student had arrived. Everyone seemed to be trudging to class even slower than usual.  She had arrived early on purpose. It still felt odd to be in that room without Ben, even just his ruffled hair blocking her view.

With fifteen minutes before class started, she pulled open her Ancient Runes book and started to read one of the chapters she had marked as a more promising one.  Rey doubted it would give her any useful information. Professor Kenobi taught them well, but they would only complete low-level, basic runes before graduating, the only type they were likely to need in their careers.  Anything else could be researched in specific cases. But she doubted Snoke had relied on low-level runes to create his tether. If the book mentioned anything like it at all, she’d be surprised.

“Looking for anything in particular?” a voice said above her.  She looked up to see Professor Kenobi’s kind eyes sparking down at her.  Instinctively, she closed the book, although she had been looking at nothing notable.

“No,” she told him, hoping her cheeks hadn’t flushed under his view.  “Nothing, really, just doing a bit of reading. Don’t want to get behind on my runes.”

“I hardly think you’ll do that,” her professor replied.  Her face felt hot. Did he know? Had he checked up on the books in the restricted section and found them missing?  Had he overheard her and Ben talking? She tried to calm her racing heart. “How are you, Rey?”

“I’m fine, professor,” she answered at once, the reply that seemed to be constantly on her lips.

He gave her a piercing look.  “Are you sure? I know that you had become...closer with young Mr. Solo.  I worry now.”

Rey forced a smile on her face.  “There’s no need, professor, but thank you.  I think we have others to worry about on that count.”

He conceded that point.  Just then, a group of students entered the classroom, and he broke off his line of questioning.  As he walked back to the front of the room, Rey breathed a sigh of relief. She would have to get better at evading questions about Ben and quickly.  If she broke down under questioning so easily, their plan would be shot before they could get it off the ground.

Paige slid into the seat beside her and dropped her bag with a heavy thud.  “Merlin,” she muttered. “I am so not ready for classes to begin again. I haven’t even figured out the bloody rounds schedule yet.”  She seemed to remember Rey sitting beside her. “I’m sorry, Rey. I didn’t think I was pairing you with a fucking Death Eater when I put you with him.  That must have been hell. I should have listened and swapped you at the beginning of term.”

“How do you know he’s gone to join the Death Eaters?” Rey asked, avoiding the apology.

Paige gave her a look.  “Half the Slytherins have disappeared all at the same time.  Organa and Solo don’t know where their son’s gone. Doesn’t take a sodding genius to figure it out,” she said, giving Rey a pitying look as she did.  “I am sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Rey answered to keep her friend from feeling too guilty about something she didn’t do.  “If there’s anyone who should be sorry, it’s him. You didn’t make him join the Death Eaters.”

“But I did make you share rounds with one for a whole term,” Paige lamented again.  She gave Rey a quizzical look. “I thought you two were getting along well too.”

“Yeah,” Rey muttered, trying to keep her mind from straying back to all those nights she spent doing rounds alongside Ben Solo.  “So did I.”

“Merlin, I’m sorry, Rey.”

Thankfully, Professor Kenobi chose that moment to begin class.  Rey sat through it, tapping her quill against her parchment until it left little splatters of ink behind and wondering when everyone would stop asking her about Ben Solo.  She knew they hadn’t exactly been discreet in the last few weeks, but she hadn’t thought everyone would make it their personal mission to remind her that he had “betrayed” her.  Could they not understand, no matter the circumstances, that she didn’t want to be reminded of him?

Or, rather, she didn’t want to be reminded that he was no longer at Hogwarts.  She would have gladly taken some inkling of a reminder from him. Three days now and she hadn’t heard a single word.   _ If he doesn’t contact me by tonight, _ she thought while trying to pay attention to Kenobi’s runes on the board,  _ I’ll try to reach him. _   That thought put her mind at ease a little.

The war hung like a thick blanket of clouds over Hogwarts.  It seemed that it followed her everywhere she went. In the Great Hall, the students chattered over their newspapers and meals, with Snoke’s name constantly on their tongues.  The professors passed by with grave faces and harried glances. In Defense, they started up a new round of defense and protection spells. Everyone knew why. Professor Organa watched them practice with a knotted brow and feet that couldn’t stand still.  

When would Snoke attack next?   _ Whom _ would Snoke attack next?  No one seemed to know. Even the papers were silent about his moves.  For the moment, it seemed that Snoke had paused every operation. Whereas before they couldn’t go a day without hearing of him, now they couldn’t find a single word about him.  

He must be planning something.  That rumor dogged her every step.  He must be planning something. But what?  Out of anyone, Rey thought she should know.  But she didn’t.

That evening, Rey went to the library even though she didn’t have much homework to complete yet.  Rose shot her a concerned glance as she left, but no one made a move to stop her. For that, she was grateful.  For just a little while, she wanted to be away from the curious glances and the whispers and speculations. She knew better than anyone what had happened to Ben Solo, but she could tell no one.

Rey sat down in the same alcove they had used for their research and let her forehead meet the wood of the table.  She groaned into it, low enough that no one else would overhear her. At least here, in the sheltered quiet of the library, she could drop the mask she wore and miss Ben.  Anxiety churned inside of her. She had still not heard anything from him.

_ “Rey?” _   Her name floated across her mind as soon as she finished that thought.  She shot upright, looking around. There was no one there. And it sounded, unmistakably, like Ben Solo.  Had he...she didn’t dare to hope.

_ “Ben?” _ she pushed back to him, hoping it would reach him across whatever unfathomable distance lay between them.  She felt a wave of his relief wash over her and sent him some of her own.  _ “I was so worried.” _

_ “Snoke’s kept me with him for the past few days.  Even if he can’t read my thoughts, I couldn’t risk it.  Just a change in my expression and…” _

_ “I understand,” _ she sent back at once.   _ “I’m just so relieved you’re okay.” _

_ “Are you?  Did everyone make it back to Hogwarts?” _   It was so odd, talking to him like this when he wasn’t in the room.  It felt just like him. The tone of his thoughts mirrored the deep tone of his voice.  

_ “I’m fine.  Not  _ everyone _ made it back.  The absences are noted.” _

_ “And asked about, I’m sure.”   _ She could hear the apology in his voice.  He could sense her confirmation.  _ “I’m sorry.” _

_ “It’s not your fault.  Have you found anything yet?  About the tethers?” _

_ “No.” _   Disappointment washed through her.  The faster they could find all of the tethers, the faster they could end this war and he could return to her.  A small voice inside of her reminded her that it would mean Ben Solo’s speedy death as well, as she hadn’t figured out a way to save him yet.  Perhaps a little longer was better. Was anything better anymore?

_ “Rey,” _ his thoughts came again, more urgent.   _ “There’s something else.  Snoke’s planning an attack.” _

Now came the hard part.  Finding the tethers and destroying them was difficult, yes.  Gathering information about Snoke and deciding what to do with it was more so in a way because it meant weighing how much information they should give the Order.  If they acted on too much information, Snoke would discover that he had a leak and it could lead him back to Ben. If they did nothing, many people could die, including her friends.

_ “We’ve suspected as much.  He hasn’t been in the papers,” _ she responded, a new bout of nervousness fluttering to life in her stomach.

_ “He hasn’t done anything since he called his followers to him,” _ Ben answered, confirming what she already knew.   _ “But he’s planning something now.” _

_ “What?”  _ she asked at once, almost leaning into the bond to hear what they should be worried about.   _ “What is he planning?” _

Rey felt a shift through their bond, the prickling of his attention turned elsewhere.  She prayed he wouldn’t be called away and leave her without any answers. A moment later, he returned.   _ “He’s planning an attack on Hogwarts.” _

_ “Hogwarts?” _   Rey’s head spun.  No. He couldn’t attack the school.  They had already taken her orphanage.  They couldn’t take her only home from her too.  Fear shot up her spine and she clenched her hands on the table.   _ “Why would he attack Hogwarts?  What can he hope to gain? Surely he doesn’t think he’ll actually  _ win _.” _

_ “He wants to test his followers.  He’s gained many new followers in the last few months and I’m sure you’ve noticed the absence of some students.  He wants to see if they’re loyal to him and will do whatever he asks.” _   She could feel his disgust radiating down their bond.  Merlin, how many lives would be lost just to weed out his stock?  Rey shuddered at the very thought.  _ “If he can take out some of the Order while he’s at it, well that’s just a perk.” _

_ “Ben,” _ she said finally.   _ “What do we do?” _

_ “What can we do?  Snoke will attack Hogwarts no matter what, unless you have five tethers up your sleeve.” _

She hesitated.  Rey knew they would come up against something like this eventually, she just didn’t think it would be so soon.   _ “We can tell someone.  We can make sure Hogwarts is ready for an attack.” _

His doubt seeped into her chest.   _ “They should already be ready.  If we tell someone, they’ll have to do something about it.  Snoke will find out he has a leak and this’ll all be over before it begins.” _

_ “If we tell no one,” _ she reminded him, her hands shaking. _   “We’ll have to watch students die and we’ll have to live with that.  Ben, you have to let me make contact with the Order. We might not be able to stop the attack, but we can put measures in place to lessen the loss of life.” _

Ben mulled over the idea on the other side of the bond.  For a moment, she wondered if she had overstepped and driven him away when she needed him closest.   _ “Do you think you can convince them to not evacuate the school?” _

Rey considered that.   _ “I suppose it depends on who I tell.  And how much I tell them.” _

Would he let her?  They had discussed their point of contact with the Order before and none had seemed appealing options to him.  Would he let her tell someone? His mother? His uncle? Professor Kenobi?

_ “You can tell my mother,”  _ he said finally.   _ “She understands trade offs in war more than anyone.” _   There was a note of bitterness in his thoughts.   _ “You can...tell her how you know.  I trust you to decide how much to tell her.” _

Nerves fluttered to life in her stomach.  She didn’t want that kind of weight on her shoulders.  But, she supposed, she had brought it upon herself.  

_ “I have to go,” _ he said urgently.   _ “Snoke attacks in three days.  Tell me if you need something.” _

Their bond dulled to just a thread at the back of her mind.  Ben receded into the distance again and left Rey trembling in the library alcove.  She blinked slowly and focused again on the wood grain of the shelves and the endless rows of books.  Out there, somewhere, Ben Solo was in danger. Out there, somewhere, Snoke plotted an attack on Hogwarts.  She had to be brave. She would tell Leia the truth and fight to keep Ben’s secret.


	46. Listen for the Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey embarks on an unsavory task -- how will Leia Organa react to the news of her son?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shockingly, despite my erratic posting, I am actually several chapters ahead, so you can expect regular posts at the very least. But...I caught up on comments, only two months late, so there's that! I promise they won't get so far behind again. And if you are one of the lovely people who comment on this story, THANKS. I really do read every single one and try to comment on them all. They make writing this story even more enjoyable.

Rey’s hands shook as she clutched her book and approached Professor Organa after class.  Finn shouted something at Poe who shoved him in return as her friends left the classroom without her.  Leia peered at her over her glasses, setting aside the stack of parchment they had turned in that day to give her her full attention.

“Can I help you, Ms. Niima?” she asked.  The witch looked more tired than ever. The last few weeks had taken a toll on her.  She wondered if it was the disappearance of the Hogwarts students that kept her up at night or just that of Ben.  Rey shook herself.

“Yes, professor, I was hoping to schedule a meeting with you this evening.  I need to speak with you about something. It is rather important,” Rey rushed out all at once.

Leia considered her over her glasses.  “Is this a school matter, Ms. Niima?”

“No, professor.  That is, not really.  Well, I suppose it relates…”

Leia’s face softened a little as Rey lost track of her words.  “Of course, Ms. Niima. How about seven o’clock this evening, after dinner?”

“Yes, professor,” she said, huffing out a relieved sigh.  “Thank you.”

Rey arrived at Professor Organa’s office at precisely five to seven.  The professor’s door was closed and Rey hesitated before knocking. She knew she had an appointment, but she still didn’t know how to breach the topic, although she had considered the matter all day.  With her thoughts thus occupied, Rey knocked. The door opened at once to reveal Leia Organa still in the same robes she had seen earlier.

“Come in, Ms. Niima,” Leia said.  “Take a seat. Have a biscuit.” She offered her one from the tin on her desk.  Rey took one and ate it silently. It did make her feel a little better. “I hope everything’s alright.”

“Is anything alright anymore, professor?” Rey said before she could help herself.

Leia frowned.  “I suppose you’re right.  Anyway, what is it, Ms. Niima?”

“I have some information,” Rey said, knotting her hands in her lap.  “That will be of great use to the Order. I can’t tell you much about how I got the information, though.”

Leia looked both surprised and confused.  “Go on.”

“Snoke is planning on attacking Hogwarts in two days,” Rey told her.

The professor leaned forward, her eyes trained on Rey, who felt as if she would shrink into the chair under the witch’s sharp gaze.  “That is a serious matter indeed, Ms. Niima. You are absolutely sure of this? Unquestionably?”

“I have a very convincing source, professor.  Yes, I am sure of it,” Rey answered. “This is why he has been so quiet recently.  He has been planning this attack.”

“Why would he want to attack the school?” Leia wondered aloud.

“I asked the same thing, professor,” Rey answered quietly.  “He is testing his followers to see if they will follow his orders unflinchingly, especially his new followers.”

Leia’s eyes locked on Rey.  “You know a lot about this, Ms. Niima.  You said you would not reveal your source, but I hesitate to trust your information if I don’t know its source.  You have someone on the inside?”

Rey bit her lip.  Ben had given her permission to tell Leia about his involvement, but she didn’t know how to do so or how much she could reveal.  What if it put Ben in danger? She knew Leia could keep a secret. But would she, even from Luke? And how would she feel to know her son was working with their enemy, no matter how temporary?  Was there even a chance she didn’t know that already?

So, she said, “I think you know my source, professor.”

Leia closed her eyes, as if willing the thought away would make it vanish in reality.  “Ms. Niima, I cannot hope to speculate.”

“Yet you have, I think.”

When Leia opened her eyes, they brimmed with tears.  “If you know something of my son and his whereabouts, Ms. Niima, please tell me plainly.”

“He has joined Snoke,” Rey said.  As she did, she could feel Ben’s presence stir in the back of her mind and willingly let him in to witness the conversation.  Leia closed her eyes again, her hands gripping the arms of her chair. “To betray him.”

Her eyes flew open.  “To betray him?”

“Yes, professor.  I’m helping him.”

She glanced around the room as if she hoped to distinguish some trace of Ben Solo there with them, as if Rey could carry him with her.  “How? If he’s gone, as you say, how are you communicating with him?”

With trembling fingers, Rey pulled up the side of her t-shirt to reveal the runes etched into her skin.  Leia’s eyes widened as she took them in. “It’s a bond linking the two of us.”

“I recognize it,” Leia said, shaking her head.  “But I’ve only come across it in books. That’s permanent, Ms. Niima.  You have a mental bond with Ben?”

“I do,” she answered, smoothing down her shirt once more.  “It’s how we communicate without Snoke finding out.”

Leia looked ready to pass out at this information.  “You mean to tell me,” she said, her voice trembling.  “That my son is sending you this information from within the Death Eaters?  He is putting himself in so much danger?” She covered her eyes with her hand.  “And for what? To give us scraps of information?”

“I hardly think an attack on Hogwarts counts as scraps of information,” Rey protested.  She could still feel Ben acutely hovering somewhere in her consciousness.  

Leia slammed her hands against the desk in an uncharacteristic and violent gesture.  “It’s not worth my son’s life. I won’t allow it.” She rose as if to march off down the hall and drag Ben out of the Death Eaters like a naughty boy from class.  “I’ll get him back myself.”

Rey rose too, her face set and sure.  “He can make his own choices, professor.”

She turned to Rey, incredulous.  “He’s a child.”

“He’s seventeen,” she reminded Ben’s mother, as if she had forgotten the age of her only son.  “Of age. Regardless, we’ve all been drawn into something that we cannot help. You’ve allowed us to join the Order at seventeen.”

“Against my better judgement,” Leia muttered.

“Ben can decide the same,” Rey pushed on, ignoring her.  “And he has. I told you so that you could help us, not  _ rescue _ him.”

Leia sank back into her chair, looking older than she ever had before.  The war hero’s shoulders slumped and her gray hair fell into her face. She appeared less like the general they all knew so well and more like a grieving mother.  She felt the ache in her own chest mirrored in Ben’s across however many miles separated them.  

When she spoke, her voice wavered in a new way.  “You care for my son, don’t you, Rey? I’ve seen how you are together.  I’ve seen how you look now that he is gone. You cannot tell me that you welcomed his new role.”

Rey swallowed hard and sat again across the desk from Leia, although they felt less and less like professor and student.  They had something in common that weighed them down. She remembered that night when Ben had first told her what he planned to do and what they were up against.  She remembered her anger and her pain.  

“No, I was not in favor of it at first,” she answered at last, looking down at her hands.  “But it was for him to decide and I’ve promised to help him see it through.”

“It’s not worth it,” Leia muttered over and over again, resting her hand on her hand.  “It’s not worth it.”

Rey sighed and reached out to feel Ben’s presence still there.  She sent it to him, her silent question, permission to tell more.  He had given his permission already, but she wanted it again, to confirm that he was still alright with going this far with his mother of all people, the woman who had disappointed him for so many years.

_ Tell her _ , he said, his words drifting down the bond between them as if he had said them into her ear instead of across hundreds of miles.  She felt a surge of faith and support from his side of the bond. It boosted her enough to take a deep breath and break Leia’s heart again.

Rey explained slowly and several times what Ben had discovered about Snoke, carefully concealing Ben’s role as one of the tethers.  Leia had to stop and ask her to explain again multiple times as the hour ticked ever later. Still, she could feel Ben’s presence at the back of her mind.  It was the longest he had been there since he left. Part of her wished she could be back in her room where she could converse with him in peace rather than in the middle of this conversation with Leia.  Not only was that idea selfish, it was impossible. He would probably disappear as soon as she crawled into bed. She was careful to conceal that thought from him.

Leia massaged the wrinkles on her forehead.  Merlin, they were all so tired and the war hadn’t even begun.  

“If it’s true what you say about Snoke, our war may be over before it has begun,” she said, closing her eyes against the news Rey had delivered.

Rey had the sudden urge to leap out of her chair and shout at the woman in front of her.  Did she really have so little faith in her own son? Yes, Ben and his mother had not had the best relationship in the past year, but Rey had just spent the better part of an hour explaining the details of Ben’s plan to take down Snoke from within.  Did she believe her son would fail so quickly? A blaze of white hot anger shot down her spine, and she knew she had not been successful at concealing her feelings from Ben.  

“We do happen to have a plan,” she answered, her voice coming out as frigid and venomous as she felt.  

Leia lifted her eyes from her hand to stare at Rey.  “You’re asking me to put my faith in two teenagers, one of whom, may I remind you,  _ joined the Death Eaters. _ ”

“I’m not asking you to do anything,” Rey spat back at her, the tide of her anger rising and brimming over.  “You don’t have to have faith in your son. Merlin knows you haven’t. But  _ I _ do and I’m giving you information that will save lives.  We will do whatever we can to end this war and save the Wizarding World.  What you do is up to you.”

She considered getting up and leaving then and there to keep herself from saying more things she would just regret in the morning, but she didn’t.  That was the coward’s way out. Rey Niima was many things, but she wasn’t a coward. Instead, she sat like stone on the edge of her seat and looked her professor in the eye as she processed her words.  Leia’s face did not change.  _ She would truly be masterful at poker _ , Rey thought.  But even without any facial expressions to go off of, she could see her wrestling with herself.  Rey’s hands shook in her lap.

Finally, Leia looked down and spoke.  “I cannot justify my actions nor can I change what I have done.  I know that I pushed Ben away for many years and much of what has happened is my fault.”

“That is not my affair,” Rey said when she paused.  “I wasn’t there.”

“No,” Leia said, lifting her head with a small, sad smile.  “You weren’t, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I cannot hope to right my actions.  All I can say is...what do you need?”

Rey didn’t think she’d heard correctly.  “I’m sorry, professor?”

“You say you and Ben have a plan.  What do you need from me?” Leia asked again without blinking.

“Trust,” Rey said at once.  “I need to know you will keep this a secret and won’t go behind our backs to solve this problem yourself.  We need you to trust us to finish our mission.”

She could see how little Leia liked that idea.  “You have that. I swear to you I will not try to destroy the tethers, no matter how much I’d like to.”

“I need a way out of the castle.  Can you lift the anti-apparition spell on me?” Rey asked and held her breath.  It was something she had been considering for some time. She now had a direct link to Ben at all times, but if something happened, would she be able to get to him in time?  Her broom wasn’t nearly fast enough to carry her there, even if she flew to Hogsmeade and then apparated. She needed to apparate and had no other way of accomplishing it.

Leia sighed.  “If it was anyone else,” she answered.  “I would refuse without hesitation. But you have never given me a reason to doubt you, Rey.”  She took out her wand and muttered spells over Rey’s head for a solid three minutes. As she did, the prickle of magic descended on her along with an odd feeling that she could suddenly go wherever she liked.  “I don’t do this lightly,” she said when she’d finished. “Not even the other order members will receive such a privilege. But you must take care not to bring anyone or anything with you into the castle. It could destroy everything.”

“I understand, professor,” she said, fidgeting a little in her chair now.

Leia was silent for a moment, considering something.  “The prophecy,” she said at last. “It refers to a traitor.”

“ _ Only the nobody and the traitor can vanquish the Supreme Lord once he arises _ ,” Rey recited.  “Yes, I remember.”

“The traitor must be Ben, not Mr. Zabini or one of the other ‘blood traitors’ in the order.  I suppose he’s the traitor in two senses. He betrayed his family when he joined Snoke. And now he betrays Snoke for his new family.  It’s poetic, in a way.”

A chill washed over her.  “What did you say, professor?”

Leia gave her a look.  “It’s clear that Ben cares for you very much.  I would even go so far as to say he loves you. He’ll give up everything for you.  Take care of him, Rey.” The last statement was more of a plea.

“I will,” she answered.  “I suppose that confirms me as the nobody.”

“Only to Snoke are you a nobody,” Leia said, her eyes soft.  “Certainly not to us. Certainly not to Ben. Snoke will pay a heavy price for underestimating you.”

“It doesn’t matter what he calls me,” Rey said, shaking her head.  Words like that rolled off of her back without leaving a mark. She had been called worse things:  _ mudblood, Muggle-lover, wand thief _ , and more.  She didn’t listen to them anymore.  “I’ll kill him whether he calls me nobody or mudblood.”

Rey thought she saw a flash of pride cross Leia’s face.  She thanked her professor and rose to go. As she did, she paused with her hand on the tall back of her chair.  “Professor, no one can know that the Death Eaters have a spy in their midst. Not yet. No one.”

“Agreed, Rey.  We shall have to arrange for the defense of Hogwarts another way.”  The professor and general nodded.

Rey gave her an uneasy nod and headed for the door.  As she turned the handle, Leia called out to her one last time.  “If you speak to my son,” she said. “Tell him I love him. Tell him I’m worried for him.”

Her words drew her attention back to the presence at the edge of her consciousness.  “He knows, professor,” she answered with a small smile. “He’s been here all along.”

With that, she left and closed the door behind her.


	47. Nowhere Safe

The next day crept by at a furiously slow pace.  Rey had barely been able to choke any food down, her stomach churning with too much anxiety and nausea.  Worse, her friends had noticed her melancholy mood and tried to cheer her up, which was how she found herself with her legs thrown over the arm of a chair in the Gryffindor Common Room.  The book in her lap would hopefully keep them from prying too much while she agonized over the impending attack on Hogwarts and stole snatches of conversation with Ben. Every once in a while, she tried to remember to turn the page. 

She turned another page and glanced around the room.  Rain hammered hard against the tall glass windows of the Gryffindor Tower, driving all but a few of the students into their common rooms for the night.  So many students had gathered in Gryffindor’s that they had run out of chairs and many were lounging on the floor. She caught a fifth-year eyeing her chair and her Hufflepuff sweater and burrowed even deeper into her chair.  No way in hell was she giving her seat up whether she belonged there or not.

_ “Poor Gryffindors losing their prime seats to enterprising Hufflepuffs.  I’m surprised your soft heart didn’t give up your seat to him right away, _ ” Ben said across their bond.  Rey snorted and immediately regretted it when Finn shot her a curious look.  She shrugged. She supposed his concern was warranted. She was ostensibly reading for Ancient Runes, a class which they had no reading for but no one else in her friend group took.

_ “I may be soft-hearted, but I’m also cozy and that wins right now,” _ she answered Ben when Finn had gone back to his Potions essay.  She could practically hear Ben’s snicker.

Her humor died a moment later as her thoughts returned to the attack on Hogwarts.  She looked around at her circle of friends: Rose, Poe, Finn, Jyn, Cassian, and even Hannah and Eliza all engrossed in their studies or their conversations around her.  Would they survive Snoke’s attack? How many more would she have to mourn? Even if they all survived this first battle, how many would she lose in this war? Was she prepared for that?  She didn’t think anyone could ever be prepared for that.

_ “They’ll be fine,”  _ Ben tried to reassure her, sensing the turmoil in her thoughts.  Or maybe she’d sent it to him unknowingly, seeking some comfort from the only source that could give it.   _ “I’ll make sure of it.” _

A hollow promise and she knew it.   _ “That’s not your job,” _ she snapped back.   _ “You’re job is to make sure Snoke doesn’t figure out you’re betraying him.   _ I’ll _ keep my friends safe.” _

_ “You can’t tell them, Rey,” _ he reminded her of what she already knew.   _ “I know you want to, but then you’ll have to tell them about this.  The more people that know, the harder it is to keep the secret.” _

_ “I know,” _ she said, but the knowing didn’t make her burden any lighter.  She knew she couldn’t tell them anything about her silent communications with Ben.  It would make everything so much more complicated. She might even lose friends over it.  And she could tell no one else about Ben’s secret mission.

“Rey, are you alright?” Finn said from right beside her, leaning in and lowering his voice.

“Of course I am.  Why wouldn’t I be?” she said, shifting a little in her chair and turning the page instinctively to keep up her ruse.

“Because,” he answered, eyeing her book.  “You haven’t turned the page in more than five minutes and you’ve been staring at the same pages for ages.”

_ “Look at that,” _ Ben muttered in the back of her head.   _ “Zabini has some sense after all.  I never put him down for the observant one.” _

_ “Can you not?” _ Rey snarled at him, afraid that she would mix the two conversations up and say the wrong thing out loud.   _ “I can’t have two conversations at once and I don’t need your snark in my head.” _

To Finn, she said, “I’m fine, honestly.  Just a little tired. It’s been a long day.  And the sound of the rain on the window makes me sleepy.”

Finn gave her a look that clearly said he didn’t believe her.  She shrugged, unable to give him another explanation that he would believe.  The answer he wanted was one she couldn’t give. The whole situation made her nerves flair.  She longed to give them just the slightest clue, some hint that something was coming to put them in danger.  But if she did that, Finn would catch sight of her secret and it would all be over. How could she leave her friends unprepared to face Snoke?

“I just feel like something bad is coming,” she said, gnawing on her bottom lip and hoping she didn’t give herself away.  

Finn’s face softened.  “I know. Me too. It’s disturbing, isn’t it?  There’s been no news on Snoke for weeks. He’s just...gone quiet.  It’s unnerving.”

Rey almost flinched.  She knew exactly why Snoke had gone silent.  “It is. I can’t stop thinking about why we haven’t heard anything.  He must be planning something.” She bit her lip again. “Do you think he could attack Hogwarts?”

Ben shot a thrill of concern down her spine, a warning to keep from saying too much.  She knew she was walking a thin line, but she didn’t think she’d stepped over it yet. Anyway, Finn shook his head.  “No, of course not. Why would he attack Hogwarts? Don’t say that too loud. You’ll set Rose off again and she won’t stop worrying.”

Rey nodded and tried her best to look reassured, although she knew that Snoke really was going to attack Hogwarts and her friends had no idea.  Rose, as it turned out, had every right to be worried. But she didn’t want her friend to overhear her speculations and get nervous.  

“Are you sure you’re alright, Rey?” Finn asked again, his eyebrows knotting in concern.  “You’ve seemed, I dunno, off the last few days.”

“I’m alright,” she assured him again with her best forced smile.  “There’s just so much piling up, y’know?”

He nodded as if he understood her situation perfectly.  It wasn’t long after that when she glanced at her watch and hauled Rose back to their common room.  It was later that night, when Rey was lying in bed staring at the ceiling and trying to fall asleep, that another blip of emotion came from Ben’s side of the bond.  She could feel his exhaustion in her bones as if it were her own. It didn’t help that she had plenty of exhaustion on her own.

_ “I’m sorry, Rey,”  _ he said across their bond.   _ “It hasn’t been safe to talk much.” _

_ “Are you okay?” _

She could feel his answer in the affirmative.  Her shoulders relaxed a little at the familiar feeling of him in her mind.  It was odd to have him there but also not, as if she could catch just a hint of something familiar that faded in the distance.  Comforting, yet sad. Merlin, how she missed him. The simple things, like the way his expression changed when she said something unexpected.  She had taken the peaceful times for granted. Wasn’t that always the way of it?

_ “I miss you too,” _ he answered and she could feel the emotion behind it, although she had not purposely projected that down the bond.

_ “Is he still planning the attack?” _

_ “Yes.” _   Regret seeped into her mind alongside dread and a hint of fear.

_ “We’ll be fine.  I’ll make sure of it.” _

_ “He sounds like he has some way into the castle, but he hasn’t revealed what it is.  Be careful, Rey, it might come from inside,”  _ he warned.  Rey shuddered at the thought.  How many would be killed or injured before they could rally a defense against a sudden attack  _ inside _ the castle?  Did he still have someone on the inside?

_ “I’ll let Leia know.” _

She knew how little he still liked that idea.   _ “Rey,” _ he said again and she could feel the gravity in his tone.   _ “I think I found one of them.” _

Her heart leapt into her throat.  It had not been long since he’d vanished and she knew they needed to find them as soon as possible, but it still felt  _ too _ soon.  They hadn’t prepared enough.  She hadn’t read enough. They didn’t know exactly what to do.  Soon, though, they would have to enter the fray, plan or no plan.

_ “Where?  How? Do you know which one it is?” _ Rey asked, trying to staunch the flow of questions pouring out of her.

_ “Not yet.  It’s in the middle of a forest, nowhere close to any towns or anything.  I’m not that surprised. We’ll have to look into it a little more before we attempt anything.” _

She took a few deep breaths to calm themselves.  Ben never rushed into anything. He would give them the time they needed to research and form a plan.  But they both knew they didn’t have time on their side.  

_ “After Snoke’s attack,” _ she said as if that weren’t already obvious.   _ “We’ll deal with it after his attack.  We both have to focus on that first. Please be careful, Ben.” _

She hadn’t really meant to send that last part to him, but it just slipped out before she could stop it.  It physically hurt to have him so far away and possibly in danger.

_ “I am, Rey, I promise.” _   He hesitated.   _ “I couldn’t have done this without you.  I still can’t. Thank you for sticking with me.” _

_ “Until the end,” _ she promised and secretly hoped that wouldn’t mean the end of Ben Solo and everything she had built with him.

Rey had begun to think that his loss might break her.

They said goodnight, but she still spent several hours tossing and turning in an effort to get to sleep.  Every time she closed her eyes, visions of a terrible future danced before her closed eyelids. She knew it was early in the morning before she slept at all.

The days passed in the same manner: with Rey on edge and constantly searching the shadows, expecting to see Snoke and his minions leap out of them at a moment’s notice.  She kept her wand within reach at all times, even at night. Her friends noticed her unease but didn’t comment. She saw too the worried glances Professor Organa sent her way.  

On Thursday night, Rey woke to a feeling of unease, a prickling on her skin that told her something was not right.  She snatched her wand from beside her pillow and shook Rose awake.

“What?” her friend groaned, sitting up.  “What are you doing up? It’s...Merlin, Rey, it’s four a.m.  Why are you awake?”

“Something’s wrong, Rose.  Come on, we have to find the professors,” she said urgently, hoping Rose would just listen in her sleep-deprived state and not question her.

“Did you have another nightmare?  What’s going on? Everything seems normal.”

It was not.  Alarm bells were going off in her head and she knew on some level they were at least partly from Ben.  The other girls that shared their room were roused from sleep by their conversation and sat up with a whine.

“What in Godric’s name are you doing up?” Hannah snapped.  “Can’t we get some sleep around here?”

“Rey’s had a nightmare,” Rose answered.  “Sorry, I don’t think she’s come out of it yet.”

“I haven’t had a nightmare,” Rey insisted, growing increasingly frustrated.  She wished she could just tell them how she knew, but even in her sleep-addled mind, she knew she couldn’t.  “Grab your wands. Something’s wrong. I mean it.”

It was then that they heard the first explosion and screams.


	48. Hell is Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins

Rey ran out in her pajamas and trainers, pulling a jumper over her threadbare shirt as she ran. In her hand she clutched her wand so hard she could break it. Rose ran a step behind her, the tails of her shoelaces smacking against the ground as she did. Eliza and Hannah brought up the rear. As they entered the common room, they had to fight their way through a mass of younger students, who had gathered in the room at the noise.  As soon as they saw Rey, they clamored for her attention and answers.  

The Hufflepuffs quieted when she raised her hands, all except Kes Dameron, who pushed to the front, wand in hand.  “It’s the Death Eaters, isn’t it? They’ve come to Hogwarts.”

Mayhem erupted around her.  A few younger students started crying.  Rey gave Dameron a look that clearly spoke to her feelings.  Cowed, he slid back into the group. “We don’t know what it is yet.  All students fifth year and below stay here. Sixth and seventh years, with me.”

A few fifth years complained but did as she said.  Most herded themselves gratefully against the far wall, eyeing the door as if it would explode at any moment.  The older students followed Rey closer to the doors. She eyed their pitiful numbers. A few held wands ready to fight.

“I think it is the Death Eaters,” she said so that only they could hear.  Several of them nodded in agreement. “Our first priority is to keep everyone safe.  Jo, Maisey, Sara, Gaskell, get the fifth-year prefects and guard the common room. Make sure you get a head count on everyone else.”

“Who put you in charge?” Gaskell demanded with a glare.

If Rey was totally honest with herself, she didn’t really care if Gaskell ran out into the fray and got himself killed.  But he was too stupid to fight properly and so he was better in the common room. Thankfully, Jo Weasley intervened and elbowed him hard in the stomach.

“Shut the fuck up, Gaskell.  Everyone knows Rey’s in charge,” she snapped, nodding to Rey to continue.

“The rest of you are welcome to stay here, if you want.  I’m going to find Professor Organa and see if we can help defend the castle,” she said, feeling the nerves flare in her stomach.  “Keep in mind that we might face other students out there.”

“You really think so?” Maisey asked with a frown.  “You think the missing Slytherins joined the Death Eaters?”

Rey wondered if Steele was among them.  She hadn’t thought to check. “Of course, they did,” Malbus answered, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Sodding bastards talked about it all the time. And good riddance.”

“I think we have to be prepared,” Rey said.  “There’s no shame in staying here.”

“We’re coming with you,” Hannah said, setting her jaw and speaking for Eliza also.  Rose nodded. Melshi and Malbus stood next to her, ready to go at her word. A few others joined them as well, including Kes Dameron, but many chose to stay in the common room.  

“Be careful,” she told them before they moved as a group to the door.  With her heart fluttering in her throat, she pushed it open and stepped out, flanked with her friends and housemates.  The Hufflepuff common room sealed behind them with a light  _ thud _ .

The hallway was deserted.  Rey breathed a sigh of relief.  The common rooms had been magically reinforced for just such an eventuality, and she’d worried that she had opened a vulnerability in hers by merely leaving.  The Hufflepuffs glanced at each other, as if they had expected to walk into the center of the fighting.

“Where should we go?” Melshi asked finally.  They all looked to Rey for direction.

“Professor Organa will be where the fighting is thickest,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt just then.  “We should head to the entrance hall and see if the fighting is inside or out.”

They nodded and moved down the hall, taking the stairs two at a time to arrive outside the Great Hall.  As they did, they could see the beginnings of the fighting. Once more, she was glad that the Hufflepuff dormitories were in the basement because the Death Eaters were clearly coming from the upper floors.  

“Duck!” she called and fired a curse up the main stairwell, hitting a Death Eater square in the chest and sending him sliding down the rest of the flight.

“Good shot, Rey,” Kes Dameron called, firing a curse of his own as more Death Eaters appeared on the floor above them and shot spells over the landing.

“Focus, Dameron,” Rey snapped, blocking a stray curse that went her way and starting up the stairs.  The others followed behind her. She heard someone hiss as a curse burned a track down their arm, but no one stopped.  

They reached the first floor and found the fighting even fiercer than before.  “Maybe we should split up,” Malbus called over the curses flying back and forth between the Hufflepuffs and the Death Eaters.  There were other students in this hall, most still in their pajamas and just roused from sleep. “We’ll have a better chance of finding her.”

“How will we find each other?” she asked.  Splitting up meant fewer of them to fight whatever Death Eaters they ran into.  There was no guarantee that any group could find Professor Organa in this mess.

“I’m sure we will,” he called back.  “We’ll move too slowly like this.”

“It’s safer,” she argued, but she could see the logic in covering more ground.  “I’ll take Rose, Hannah, and Eliza. Take the others with you.” Rey could see by the set of his face that he wanted to argue against leaving the sixth year girls defenseless.  She shot him a hard glare. “I swear to Godric, Malbus, if you say  _ anything _ about us all being girls, I will personally  _ Cruciatus  _ you.”

He grinned at her and fired another curse.  “Yeah, she’s got them,” he said to the others.  “Let’s go. This way!” 

Malbus led the charge, flinging Death Eaters aside as he went.  Rey took the other three girls and headed in the opposite direction.  She could see more Death Eaters pouring out of the stairwell ahead. Merlin, how many were there?  Snoke had managed to recruit far more than she had imagined. The thought stabbed her through the heart.  Ben was here. She could feel it.  

“ _ Ben, _ ” she shot down their bond and prayed it reached him in the fray.   _ “Are you alright?” _

His affirmative answer came a moment later.  She got a glimpse of the battle from his side, curses flying against several students.   _ “Don’t come to the third floor hall.” _

_ “Why not?” _ she fired back, but he didn’t answer.   _ “Ben, why not?” _

Rey ran, heading towards the stairwell that would take her up to the second and then the third floor.  Rose, Eliza, and Hannah followed her, not daring to question where she was leading them and firing curses at every turn.  They reached the second floor landing and met two Death Eaters. These ones looked different, and Rey realized they were slowly working their way up through the ranks.  The ones they’d been fighting were mere footsoldiers.

The two that stood before them now wore floor-length black robes with a silver stripe along the edge and eerie emotionless masks.  Rey couldn’t help but wonder if they had any emotions under them. Did they feel anything as they fired curses into defenseless students?  Did they recognize any faces among them?  

Did they have a sense of guilt?

They blocked her first curse.  “Dirty blood traitors,” one of them said.  “Put down your wands and join Snoke and he’ll be generous.  We’ll bring a new order, one that has wizards on top and ruling, as we were meant--”

He didn’t get to finish his monologue.  A curse felled him. Rey glanced behind her to see Rose with fury written all over her face.  Rey immediately shot a curse at the other, but his partner’s plight had made him wary of the danger.  He blocked it. Still, he was no match for four witches, underage though they were. They ran passed, leaving two Death Eaters slumped on the ground.

As they turned to ascend to the third floor, they nearly ran into Poe and Finn.  They, too, had run out in their pajamas and looked mostly unharmed, although Poe had a curse wound on his arm that still smoked.  Rey’s knees nearly buckled when she saw them safe. Well, mostly safe. A new crew of Death Eaters rushed them.

“The professor’s on the third floor,” Poe shouted over the din of battle.  “Come on, this way!”

They fought their way up the stairs to the third floor corridor.  There, they finally saw Leia, her wand blazing with flashes of light as she battled four Death Eaters at once.  Rey almost stopped in her tracks. She had seen the professor in action before but never like this. She was brilliant.  She was magnificent. She was unlike any warrior Rey had ever seen.

Farther down the hall, Rey could see Professor Skywalker and Professor Kenobi fighting their own Death Eaters.  They were outnumbered and she could see at least one student lying on the ground. She was sure there were more.  True to her guess, they had gone where the fighting was thickest.  

“There are too many of them,” Hannah said, pausing to catch her breath, her wand still at the ready.  It was true. The Death Eaters looked poised to overwhelm the professors.

“We have to help them!” Poe yelled, running into the chaos with curses leaving his wand at every step.  Finn shook his head and followed him into the fray.  

Rey reached deep for her happy memories, calling them up from within her.   _ “Expecto Patronum!”  _ she called, the brilliant white unicorn leaping from the end of her wand and galloping down the hall.

“What was that?” Rose asked as she fended off a Death Eater.  Rey joined her and they succeeded in knocking him out. 

“Calling for reinforcements,” Rey answered.  “Eliza, we have to get you to those students over there.  Come on!”  

They fought their way step by step down the hall until Eliza could kneel over the fallen student and pull out one of her potions.  Rey, Hannah, and Rose stood around her, defending her from any wayward spells while she worked. All around them, the Death Eaters converged.  Too many to count. Too many to fight.

Rey fired a curse and turned to face a Death Eater who advanced on her.  Before she could, however, Poe stepped between them, his wand at the ready.  The Death Eater paused. “We’re only here for the mudbloods,” he said and she recognized the sneering voice of Krennic.  It sent chills down her spine. “Put down your wand, Dameron, and you will be welcomed for the pureblood you are.”  

“Haven’t you heard?” Poe said, his shoulders stiff and his voice hard as flint.  “I’m a sodding blood traitor.”

Finn joined Poe, his wand also trained on Krennic.  The Death Eater regarded him, deflecting a curse Poe shot at him.  “Your parents will be thrilled when I bring your dead body to them.”

“You wish,” Finn snarled and sent such a strong curse hurtling at Krennic that it sent him flying five feet back, even with his shield.  They advanced on him and Rey tore her attention away from the fight to find off the new wave of Death Eaters heading towards them.  

And, finally, things looked better for them.  The Death Eaters thinned out, many falling unconscious on the ground or falling back with curse wounds.  Leia and her brother fought back to back against the remaining few. Kenobi leaned against the wall and wiped the sweat from his brow.  Even Poe grinned over at Rey.

And then a figure appeared at the top of the stairs, flanked by others in dark robes.  Rey recognized him immediately, despite the heavy mask that covered his features and the thick black cloak on his shoulders.  She shuddered and instinctively reached out across the bond but met only cold obsidian. He had shut himself off even from her.  He held out his wand, and Rey had to duck to avoid the wave of magic that swept over them. Finn was not so lucky. He fell, clutching his chest where enormous welts appeared across his skin.

“The Supreme Lord welcomes all wizards who will join him,” the figure said, his voice ringing loud and clear despite the mask. 

Beside her, Rose tensed.  “Is that…?”

“Solo,” Poe snarled, his lip curling.  He crouched beside Finn with Eliza, who had torn open his shirt and was frantically applying potions.  “I’ll murder that bastard.”

“But he has no tolerance for blood traitors who continue to oppose him,” Ben announced.  Except he wasn’t Ben anymore. Gone was the boy who had looked at her with timid eyes and shaking hands.  Gone was the boy who had kissed her and smiled when she said she liked his common room. Gone was the Ben who had stolen her rum in the Great Hall and carried her back to her common room like a friend.  The man who stood in front of her had become something new, something terrible, and she didn’t even want to look at him. But she fought to conceal her horror from him.

_ This, _ she thought,  _ this is why he warned me to stay away.  He didn’t want me to see this. _

Indeed, she felt it the moment he recognized her among the figures, his fear lancing down the bond like a blow.  She would not let him see how this affected her. That wasn’t what he needed just now. Here it was, his first test.  And she had sworn to help him pass every one.

“Or mudbloods,” Rey called back, gripping her wand tight and taking a step forward, so that she blocked Poe from view.  Merlin, would he kill her friends to keep this ruse going? What exactly had she signed up for? “We don’t have a place in your new world order, do we?  Just crawl off and die, shall we?”

He turned his masked eyes on her.  Unrelenting. “Mudbloods are not true wizards,” he announced.  His words sent a shiver down her spine. Rey remembered when he had said those words before and meant them.  They sounded even more real now. “Mudbloods are the usurpers of the magic world. They would have us submit to Muggle rule.  We will rise above.”

“Over my dead body,” Skywalker called out.  

Ben’s stance didn’t change as he shifted his eyes to his uncle.  “That is the intent.”

No one hesitated any longer.  They started firing curses at him, Rey included, but the Death Eaters around him surged forward and fought back with as much intensity, led by the masked Ben Solo.  Rey soon found the way to him blocked by other enemies. She fought back furiously.  

“Ben!” she heard Leia call over the din of battle.  She risked a glance to see the aged general facing off with her masked son.   _ Damn it, _ Rey thought.  She should have warned Leia not to engage him.  She should know better. He couldn’t break his act, no matter who got in his way.  

“I’m not Ben Solo anymore,” she heard him answer between the curses he deflected and cast.  “I am Kylo Ren, reborn and renewed.”

“You are still my son,” Professor Organa called, standing firm against him despite the Death Eaters pressing in around her.  She could see Luke on her other side, fighting to get through to his twin. Rey did the same, wading through the sea of Death Eaters that threatened to overwhelm them.

“Your son is dead.  He was weak and I killed him,” Ben answered.  Rey felt bile rise in her throat. How near had that come to the truth?  How close had Ben Solo come to destroying himself for Snoke?

Had she made the difference?

She could feel his hesitation through their bond, although he tried to mask it.  His fear radiated into her chest and echoed her own. Leia wouldn’t back off. Rey didn’t know what she hoped to accomplish with this.  If she didn’t back off soon, Ben would be forced to do something extreme or look weak in front of his subordinates. Briefly, wildly, Rey wished she had a mental bond with the professor too, just so she could send her a message.

“Finish her!” one of the Death Eaters yelled as Leia advanced on him again. 

Rey held her breath as he waved his wand…

...and tossed Leia across the room as easily as batting away a fly.  She crashed into the wall and fell in a heap, motionless.

Poe gave a strangled yell and started to his feet.  He blocked the first curse Ben threw his way, but the second hit him in the chest.  Poe fell and did not get back up. Rey knocked out the Death Eater in front of her and ran towards Ben, felling another with a clean stroke.  She felt alarm thrill down the bond as she faced off with him, wand drawn between him and her friends. Hopefully, Eliza could get to Leia and help her and Poe.  Rose stepped up beside her, hands shaking but face firm.  

With a flash of her wand, Rey started dueling Ben.  Across their bond, she could tell that he knew what she intended.  He responded in kind, his wand flashing with curses. “All is not lost,” she told him as they fought.  “You don’t have to do this.”

“Stupid mudblood,” he snarled, the name falling from his lips as easily as it once had.  “I  _ want _ to do this.  We will save the wizarding world.”

“You won’t win,” she said.  

Ben paused, as if listening to a call in the distance.  When he turned back to her, he lowered his wand. “We already have.”

With that, he vanished.  The other Death Eaters disappeared at the same time, taking their dead and wounded with them.  In a flash, Rey stood in the third floor corridor with only her friends and their injured around her.  Professor Skywalker scanned the room for any sign of the Death Eaters before he too dropped his wand and ran to his twin.

Eliza had revived Leia already and she sat up against the wall.  The young witch had turned her attention to Poe, who remained passed out on the floor.  Rey left her at her work and went to Professor Kenobi.

“What did he mean?” she asked him.  “When he said they’ve already won? They just vanished.  Why? They could have taken the castle.”

Professor Kenobi shook his head.  “I don’t know. It bothers me as much as you.  There must be something else, some other goal.”

As the dust from the battle settled, they heard a scream.  Rey looked down the hall towards the source of the sound. She couldn’t see that, but she did see a black tendril snaking across the stone.  She turned back to Professor Kenobi in alarm.

“Professor,” she said.  “The Cursed Vault. They’ve unleashed it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of Ben and his newest encounter with Rey!


	49. All the Devils are Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and the rest of Hogwarts have to deal with the aftermath of the battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys! I got a little overwhelmed this week (it's the end of the grading period and so one of the busiest weeks of the year) but here is your belated chapter! Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments :)

Professor Kenobi sprung into action at once and no one questioned his leadership as he barked out commands, not even Leia, whom Hannah tended to where she sat against the wall on Eliza’s instructions, nor Luke, who watched over his sister with unease.  

“Luke, we need to contain this now,” Ben Kenobi said, drawing his wand again.  Then, for the first time, Rey caught a glimpse of the old war hero reemerging. “Rey, I know you’ve been through a lot tonight, but I need you.  You’re my best Ancient Runes student.”

Rey would have glowed at that compliment under any other circumstances.  As it was, she straightened her spine, gripped her wand, and nodded. “I’m ready.”

“Help me up,” Leia said, struggling to rise on her own power while Hannah tried to (very politely) keep her seated.  

“Professor,” Eliza snapped, not even looking up from her ministrations on Poe.  “You have been severely injured.  _ Sit down _ .”  Rey had to admire her friend’s gall in speaking to the war hero -- not to mention their professor -- like that.

“You need me,” Leia gasped, her eyes watering with pain.

“Not this time,” Luke said.  He didn’t have time to be gentle with his sister.  “Eliza, I am personally tasking you with keeping her here.  Kent, Tico, with me. Zabini help Eliza.”

“Yes, professor,” Eliza said as Hannah scrambled to obey and Finn spared a look away from Poe for them.  Rey could see everything he wanted to say written in his expression and his eyes. He didn’t bother with platitudes like  _ be safe _ and  _ come back _ .  Both of them knew she couldn’t guarantee any of those things.  One of their best friends lay unconscious on the ground at that moment.  They didn’t even know if he would be okay, nevertheless anyone else.    

“I don’t know Runes,” Hannah said, rushing to Rey’s side with wide eyes.  Rose followed her, a little dazed, her eyes echoing Hannah’s statement. Finn nodded to her as she spared one last look for Poe.

“What we need from you is magic ability, not Runes,” Professor Kenobi answered.  “And you both have plenty of that.”  

They turned down the hall together, led by Professor Kenobi.  Rey took Rose’s hand briefly and squeezed. For courage. For luck.  She could feel Ben hovering at the edge of her mind as if checking to see that she lived, but she couldn’t focus on him.  Not now. First, they had to save Hogwarts from what he’d unleashed. The thought knocked the wind out of her. This was Ben’s doing, not Snoke’s.  Only he could have told them where the Vault was and how to get into it. If anyone died tonight, the blood would be on Ben’s hands too. In a moment, her own could be.

“We’re going to the Vault?” Rose asked her as they ran down the hall.  “The Cursed Vault? I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain later,” Rey said and, this time, she meant it.  She would explain everything that had occurred between her and Ben in the Cursed Vault.  If her friend was to risk her life in it this time, she deserved to know the secrets Rey had been keeping.  At least some of them.

As they ventured farther down the hallway, the tendrils grew thicker and more numerous, until they blocked out almost half of the floor.  They had to slow their pace to avoid walking on one or even over one. They rounded a corner and found the source of the scream from before.  A young Ravenclaw stood with her back against the wall, crying in terror as the tendrils engulfed all available space around her.  

“Hold on!” Professor Skywalker called to her and launched a spell at the blackness closest to the student.  It delayed it for only a moment. They joined the headmaster in firing spells against the black poison leaking across the floor, ever closer to the Ravenclaw, as if it was toying with her.  

But they couldn’t seem to find the right combination of spells that would stop the spread of the poison.  After achingly long minutes of them trying to reach her, the black touched her foot for the first time. Rey felt her heart leap into her throat as she waited for the girl to fall into seizures, as Maisey and Steel had done, or something even worse.  But she did not. The tendril retreated from her again and continued its trek down the hall. The girl stood paralyzed, staring at the darkness that crept away from her, inch by inch, until she could move again.

“It’s alright,” Rey called out to her as they plowed a path to her.  “You’re safe. It won’t hurt you.” Why, she still hadn’t figured out.  “What’s your name?” At first, the girl couldn’t respond. “Come on, what’s your name?”

“Clancy,” she said at last.  “Clancy Prewett.”

“What house are you in, Clancy?” Rey asked, although she could clearly see her house colors on her tie.  She needed to keep the girl talking, so that she wouldn’t fall into shock.  

“Ravenclaw,” Clancy said when Professor Skywalker was mere feet from her.

“What year are you?” Rey called to her.  She felt as if the girl were miles away instead of only about twenty yards.

“Fifth,” she said.  Why she was out in the halls in all this madness, Rey couldn’t fathom.  Finally, Skywalker reached her and helped her navigate out of her corner.  Rey breathed a sigh of relief, one she found echoed in her two friends.

“Ms. Tico, if you would be so kind as to lead Ms. Prewett back to Professor Organa,” Luke said when they reunited on the other side of the poisonous mass.  Rose wordlessly wound her arm around Clancy’s shoulder and led the sniffling girl off. “What I can’t figure out,” Skywalker continued when they had rounded the corner.  “Is why it stopped. Why not kill her?”

“Perhaps the effects are delayed,” Professor Kenobi suggested, the thought darkening his eyes.  “Like with the other two students.”

But they had probably not come into contact with it and it had been within the protective runes.  Surely that had something to do with the delayed effects. Rey puzzled it out in her own mind. Suddenly, a thought struck her and she grabbed Professor Kenobi’s arm.  “Professor, what if Snoke changed it somehow? He’s a powerful wizard and he understands runes. What if he bewitched it so that it would only affect...so that it would only kill Muggleborns?  Prewett is an old wizarding family. Clancy is probably a pureblood.”

At the mere mention of the idea, Professor Skywalker pushed Rey behind him, farther away from the black tendrils creeping ever closer to them.  “I think,” he said gravely. “You may be right. Snoke doesn’t want to kill the entire population of Hogwarts. That’s many pure- and half-blooded wizards that could not be won over to his cause.”

“He’s intending to  _ purge _ Hogwarts,” Rey said.  The initial high of the idea’s discovery had worn off and a deep-seated fear replaced it.  “Of all mudbloods.”

“Don’t say that word,” Hannah said at the same time as Professor Skywalker spoke.

“Ms. Niima, I insist you return to Professor Organa at once,” he took a step back, pushing her with him, so that she was farther from the black tendrils that could, they were now all sure, kill her with a touch.

“I will  _ not _ ,” she said, surprising herself as much as she did him.  Rey Niima had never stepped out of line, to their knowledge, even once.  Although, she had to amend in her own head, she had performed illicit runic magic with Ben Solo and shielded a Death Eater.  But she had good reasons for that. “The danger to me is no greater now that it was to all of us before. And you need me. I joined the Order.  I swore to help in every way I can. I’m not going anywhere.”

Professor Kenobi looked back at her with something like pride.  “She’s right. I can’t contain it alone and you, my dear Luke, are not gifted with Runes.”

Rey was surprised to hear that Luke Skywalker was not gifted in  _ anything _ but even more surprised to hear Kenobi agreeing with her so soon.  “Then,” Luke said, shaking his head. “We’d better find that Vault.”

“The entrance is near here,” Professor Kenobi answered, looking around for it.  They found it a moment later when he slid to a halt next to a familiar-looking rune.  Indeed, it would have been difficult to miss, since the black tendrils splayed out in every direction from it.  He nodded to her. “You opened it last time, Ms. Niima.”

Feeling Hannah’s eyes on her, Rey stepped forward and traced the opening runes onto the wall.  As she lifted the tip of her wand away from the wall, the runes glowed blue and the door slid open, grinding against the stone with age.  The hallway before them was black with the curse spreading from the vault, but Professor Skywalker seemed to have hit upon the proper spell this time.  He and Professor Kenobi carved a path before them, driving the poison back with every step. It still took an agonizingly long time to reach the central chamber.  

“How did they know about this place?” Hannah asked, her eyes taking in the darkened hall and the ancient stone with wide eyes.

Rey exchanged a glance with Kenobi.  Luke kept his eyes straight ahead as they forged on.  “Ben was with me when I found it,” she told Hannah at last.  “He helped contain it last time. I guess he told Snoke about it and helped him break it.”

“Bloody bastard,” her friend said under her breath.  “Sorry, professors.”

“I echo that sentiment,” Professor Kenobi said almost cheerfully.  “My godson has never exactly been the most upstanding of Hogwarts students.  Even his parents wouldn’t object to that.”

Rey felt his statement like a stab to the heart.  She knew, but no one else here did, that Ben, in fact, was doing more for their cause than anyone else could hope to.  Ben was their last hope against Snoke. Without him, they would be doomed to fight him again and again, generation after generation, as his soul lived on even after he was destroyed.  But she could not tell them that. No one would believe her if she did.

Part of her, though, oh, part of her wanted to tell them anyway.  

“We should get to work,” she said instead, eyeing the faded runes on the floor as they entered the center chamber.  

The ancient runes, which had glowed blue after their last encounter with the Cursed Vault, had faded to mere echoes on the floor, drowned by the black tendrils that spilled every which way from the room beyond.  Rey could still distinguish the traces of her own connection runes in the center of the circle, although they too had been overwhelmed and engulfed. It was there, Rey remembered. It was there that she had almost passed out from the force of the runes.  It was there that Ben had caught her and carried her to safety. It was there that she had believed in him with all of her might until he came to her rescue. 

Now she stood in a disaster of his own making.  So much had changed since Halloween, when she had only begun to trust Ben Solo.  When the Death Eaters had been a mere whisper.  

“Rey, start over there and copy the runes best you can.  I’ll fill in what you cannot see,” Professor Kenobi barked, moving to the other side of the circle from her.  

“There’s no need, professor,” Rey answered, blasting the black tendrils away with the spell Professor Skywalker showed them and bending down to place her wand against the stone.  “I know the runes.”

He gave her a strange, almost fearful look.  “Do you indeed? These are advanced, Ms. Niima.”

Rey looked him dead in the eye.  “I researched them after our last encounter with the vault.  I wanted to know what I was dealing with this time.”

Professor Skywalker interrupted before Kenobi could press her further.  “Could we discuss the quality of Ms. Niima’s spellwork, which is undoubtedly fine, at a later and less dangerous time, perhaps?”

“Right,” Professor Kenobi said.  He shook his head and his distraction vanished.  “Luke, I trust you remember the connection runes I showed you?”

“I may not be as advanced in runes as Rey here, but I can still…” Luke started.  Professor Kenobi didn’t let him finish.

“Good.  Trace out circles for yourself and Ms. Kent.  Show her how to shore up the runes until we finish,” Kenobi said, already tracing runes on his side.  They stood out a little bolder against the stone but did not yet glow blue. “And get these blasted tendrils away from here.”

Rey paid them little attention and worked at tracing out the decaying runes on her side of the circle.  Dimly, she was aware of Professor Skywalker cursing as he turned battling the tendrils into a full time job.  He didn’t seem to have time to make the connections that Kenobi asked for. Rey worked faster.  

She blasted through another line of black that had dared to venture over her runes and closer to her foot.  “Get the fuck away from me,” she huffed, destroying it in a wave of fire. Professor Skywalker paused but didn’t comment at her language.  She didn’t think her mouth was the most important thing at the moment.  

The tendrils seemed to get more active as they worked, as if they sensed that their time was limited and soon they would be confined in their chest again.  Soon, Hannah had joined Professor Skywalker in battling the tendrils at full force. As she neared the completion of the circle and the joining of her runes with Professor Kenobi’s, Rey cursed them with increasingly colorful invectives.  For every rune she wrote, they spread an inch closer to the castle. Their creeping movement no longer drove fear into her heart. Although these had been modified specifically to hunt out her kind, she couldn’t fear them. Worse things had come to Hogwarts.

Rey had only a few feet to go when she realized they were losing.  Despite their best efforts and the frankly fantastic spellwork of all involved, the tendrils drove closer and closer to the edge of the runes.  As Rey raced to join her runes with Professor Kenobi’s, she could see Hannah and Luke’s shoes just a foot in front of her, so far had the tendrils forced them back.

“If the curse is covering the runes, they won’t work,” Kenobi warned as he finished his side and started working on hers.

“I know that,” Luke bit out and jabbed his wand at a tendril that saw fit to pull itself off the ground.  “But there’s not much we can do about it.”

It was then that Rey knew they were doomed.  With two of the greatest wizards and some of their best students battling one curse, they still could not best it.  She would not leave, she decided. Even though the curse would take her first among her compatriots, she would not leave.  She would not abandon Hogwarts to this fate. She could still feel Ben hovering in the back of her mind.  _ He’s going to feel me die, _ she thought.  For his sake (and maybe a bit of hers too), she prayed that it would be painless.  Perhaps that would hurt him less.  _ Who am I kidding?  He’ll blame himself. _

“Rey, get out of here,” Luke said and lost another inch.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she grit out, fighting to finish her runes before the blackness could reach them.  It was no use. Other areas of their runes were already covered by the blackness.

“Out of my way,” a voice demanded, stepping over the line of protective runes.  Rey looked up in surprise to see the blazing face of Leia Organa, her wand outstretched as she took out an entire section of the black tendrils.  A pale Rose followed her with her own wand and copied the movements of the others. Rey smiled as her friend’s spells made contact.  

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” Luke said, grinning at his sister.

“Then, next time, don’t leave me behind!”

“You were knocked unconscious by your own son,” he reminded her.  “Forgive me if I thought you might need a break.” But both siblings were smiling.

Rey felt her own heart buoyed by the hope they brought.  Perhaps, with Leia Organa, perhaps they would be able to finish what they started.  A moment later, she joined her runes with Kenobi’s. As soon as she did, she turned and blasted a section of blackness away from the runes she’d drawn.  Inch by inch, they drove them back, until finally, thankfully, the runes glowed to life around them. Rey and Kenobi grinned at each other and joined the others in forcing the curse back into its prison.  

When the lid shut and sealed the curse in its box again, Rey turned and threw her arms around Rose.  Her friend’s legs buckled and it was only Rey’s embrace that kept her standing. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she muttered into her shoulder.

Leia caught her breath and gripped her side but grinned from ear to ear.  “I don’t think ten points each to Hufflepuff will quite cover it.”

Despite the battle, the dust of which still coated her, and despite the fear still raging inside of her, Rey laughed.


	50. Nocturnal Nuisances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey ventures somewhere she's never been before to retrieve something she shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Sorry I'm a day late on this one. Enjoy the chapter nonetheless

Poe had not yet woken up.  That did not mean things at Hogwarts had not changed.

The east side of the fourth floor corridor had been roped off and any classes in that section of the building moved, since the Death Eaters had, for some reason, decided to blow up a wall.  It was a good thing that Ben and Rey didn’t have to have any more clandestine meetings, because the Room of Requirement was also off-limits. Or, at least, the bare stretch of wall had been magically cordoned off, much to the confusion of those students who had not previously known of its existence.  Rey assumed that it had something to do with how the Death Eaters entered Hogwarts, but she was not high enough on the pecking order to be privy to that information.  

It had been immediately announced that all Quidditch matches and Hogsmeade visits were cancelled until further notice.  There would also be a group of aurors stationed on the Hogwarts grounds at all times. They would patrol around the greenhouses and Chewie’s hut when the students went to classes.  No student was to be out of his common room after eight. The aurors now joined the prefects on their rounds. Rey assumed that this all meant that Hogwarts was not to be closed. For that, at least, she could breathe a sigh of relief.  She didn’t know where she would go if Hogwarts closed.  

Rey sat in the crowded Hospital Wing and watched Poe’s unconscious face.  She had taken over Finn’s seat when he had finally been convinced to go and get some food. She had never seen either boy so worse for wear.  Rose went with him, leaving her, for once, alone with Poe.  

“They’ve cancelled Quidditch, you know,” she said, leaning a little closer to him and holding his limp hand.  Rey half-expected him to wake at the very mention of cancelling Quidditch. By all rights, he should go hollering out of the Hospital Wing to give Leia Organa a piece of his mind about that.  But nothing was right and Poe Dameron did not stir at the mention of Quidditch.

The healers, the ones who had come from St. Mungo’s to help Healer Zarrin, said Poe was lucky to be alive.  He had sustained a direct hit from a mystery curse to his chest, near his right shoulder. But, now that he had stabilized, they were confident that he would survive.  Except, Poe had not yet woken up.

“I almost want classes to start again,” she said, talking to his unconscious form even though it felt odd to do so.  The healers had said it would help. “Then, at least, things would feel a little closer to normal. Although, I don’t think I could focus on anything.”  Poe’s face didn’t change. “Finn’s beside himself, you know. So is Kes, although he won’t show it. You should really just hurry up and wake up. You look fine, you sodding prick.”

But Poe Dameron did not wake up.  Rey’s eyes strayed towards the doors and she hoped that Finn would walk through it and resume his station beside Poe.  She didn’t know how he could bear it, sitting next to an unconscious Poe for so long.

“Merlin, I wish I could fly my broom for a bit, you know?” Poe would know.  He would understand. She had just started blabbering to him, saying the first thing that came to her mind.  And he was the only one who would understand her compulsion to fly at a time like this. She dropped her head onto her arms.  “I just want to get away from all this, just for a minute. I always forget everything else when I’m flying. I wish they hadn’t cancelled Quidditch either.  That’s the only thing I can look forward to this year. But I understand why they did it.”

When she looked up again, Poe was staring at her.  He swallowed hard, his eyes darting left and right, as if searching for something.  “Cancelled Quidditch?” he said, so softly she could barely hear him at all.

Rey rolled her eyes.  “Oh, you bloody bastard.  Finn’s going to  _ kill _ me for sending him away, and you go and  _ wake up _ .  You’re always such a fucking bastard, Poe.  And,  _ of course, _ the first thing you say is they’ve cancelled Quidditch.”  

She let out a giddy laugh through the tears that choked their way up her throat.  It was such a relief just to see him awake. Rey waved the healers over and stepped back so they could check him over.  By the time Finn came back from lunch, they had Poe sitting up and tipping a bit of water down his throat. Rey stood off to the side and beamed.  When he caught sight of Poe sitting up, Finn dropped the cup he held and ran over to his bedside. Rey left to avoid the sight of their sloppy reunion and also the chewing out she’d get from Finn.  Maybe mostly the chewing out.

She sought solace in the library, where at least she didn’t have to pretend she thought about anything besides the war and the casualties.  Poe had almost been one. In all, however, miraculously as it seemed, they had not lost a single student to Snoke’s attack. She had spent much of her time mulling over how that could be possible.  The Death Eaters had attacked Hogwarts. They had succeeded in breaking into Hogwarts. Why had they not harmed any students?

They hadn’t meant to.  It was the only explanation she could come up with.  If they had wanted to, they certainly could have killed as many of the students as they pleased.  As far as they knew, Hogwarts had been undefended. Even with Leia Organa’s foreknowledge of the attack, they could not have come up with enough tricks to keep the Death Eaters from killing any students. Leia was good.  She wasn’t that good with only two days notice.

But why had they avoided killing any students?  Rey wracked her brain, trying as hard as she could to think like Snoke.  The very thought repulsed her, but that’s what she had to do, wasn’t it? She had to think like him.  

He hadn’t wanted to kill any students because...because there was still a chance that more witches and wizards would join him.  If he went around killing a bunch of pureblooded children, he would lose followers quickly. Blood traitors, sure, those were a different story.  But pureblooded children? Kids who were just scared and trying to defend their school? Well, there was no way to know which were scared and confused purebloods and which were mudblood scum, was there?  

Which was why he unleashed the curse.  Modified, as they had confirmed, to kill only mudbloods.  Not an attack, then, but a purge. Rey wanted to throw up her meager breakfast.

She did not, though.  Instead, she got to work.

It was that same day, the same day Poe woke up again, that she discovered how to destroy the tethers.  She had been reading one of the Restricted Section books Ben left with her when she stumbled upon a piece of information tucked in the back of one on a particularly crinkled page.  That single piece of information had led her down a rabbit trail of bits and pieces until, finally, when the clock struck ten o’clock at night, she found the answer.  

It was the next morning, the morning after Poe woke up, that she put her ability to circumvent Hogwarts’ anti-apparition spell to its first use.  

In the slanting light of the morning, Rey apparated from the deserted library to Diagon Alley.  The familiar street looked very different from the last time she’d seen it. Maybe it was the war or the early hour, but few patrons crossed its old cobblestone streets.  A cat ran across the road ahead of her. Several of the shops had been boarded up since her last visit. Rey pulled her jumper over her chest and wished she’d thought to bring a coat or at least a scarf.

Her destination did not lie in Diagon Alley, however.  She turned her steps away from the familiar shops where she bought her school books and robes and, once upon a time, her wand.  She remembered her first trip to Ollivander’s. Chewie had escorted her, since Rey had no magical parent to rely on. Nevertheless, old Ollivander had peered at her over his spectacles and found her a wand in five minutes flat.  It was the same wand she now carried in her jumper pocket, close at hand should she need it where she was going. The same wand she clung to for proof that she belonged in this incredible world.

Her footsteps took her instead to Knockturn Alley, where the sunlight turned to shadows.  Few figures moved among the old, rundown shops there too. Nevertheless, Rey stopped before her destination: 13B Knockturn Alley.  Better known as Borgin and Burkes. If anyone had what she was looking for, they would.

She shuddered a little as she entered the dusty antique shop, a rusty bell dinging overhead.  No one came out from behind the counter to assist her. Indeed, she saw no one at all. Rey made her own way into the shop and slipped between its cabinets and shelves, her eyes roving over the contents.  A deep misgiving settled in her stomach. Perhaps she shouldn’t have come here. She could have asked Leia. Maybe she had a way to get her hands on what she needed without venturing into Knockturn Alley alone.  If Ben knew she’d come alone…

“Can I help you?” the gravelly voice spoke from behind her.  She spun so fast she almost crashed into the nearest shelf. She froze, nothing coming from her mouth.  The old man eyed her with suspicion. “Aren’t you a little young to be here?”

Rey snapped back to herself then and realized that she needed to say something or risk tipping him off.  Not that she planned to steal anything. “Of course not. I hope you’re not insinuating that I can’t pay for my purchases.”

He lifted a wizened eyebrow at her.  “I would never, miss. Can I help you find anything?”

Thankfully, at that moment, she spied what she had come for.  Among the other junk that cluttered the shop, the small knife almost disappeared.  Rey picked it up and checked the blade. Sure enough, it glinted back at her, made of some unidentifiable black material and etched with a faded layer of runes.  Its price tag read mere galleons. They didn’t even know what they had.

“No, thank you, I found what I’m looking for,” she answered, gesturing to the knife with a smile.  She’d taken care to wear something black and gray instead of, Merlin forbid, a Hufflepuff sweater, but he still eyed her with caution, as if she had  _ Hufflepuff!  _ or  _ Mudblood! _ written on her forehead.  

“What would a pretty thing like you want with that knife?” he asked.  “It’s a cruel weapon and an old one. Surely your wand would do the trick.”

Rey gave him what she hoped was a winning smile.  “Can never be too careful these days, can you? I’ll take it.”

“Indeed,” he muttered, taking it from her over the counter and inspecting it.  “And your name?”

For just a second, Rey faltered.  “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“The ministry keeps track of all sales of old artefacts, like this one,” he said without missing a beat.  She almost believed him. Maybe it was true and he did have to report this sale, but she doubted it.  

“Penelope Clearwater,” Rey said with an understanding nod, naming a pureblooded, Ravenclaw student who had graduated a few years prior.  She prayed to Godric he didn’t know the Clearwater family. She doubted it. The younger sister still remained at Hogwarts, as a prefect no less, and didn’t seem the type to dabble in dark magic.  Not that Rey seemed the type to dabble in dark magic. Yet, here she was inside Borgin and Burkes with a rune-pressed knife in her hand. “Pureblood, if that matters to you lot.”

He made a show of shaking his head.  “No, no, it’s just business, Miss Clearwater, you understand.  Just have to be careful about selling to any...unsavory elements.”

Rey was sure that their definitions of unsavory were  _ very _ different.  “I have an appointment.  I’d like to be going, if I could have my knife?”

He eyed her one last time before, presumably, deciding that he had no reason to deny the sale.  He rang her up on the ancient register. “That will be three galleons.”

“The tag says two and ten knuts,” she reminded him sweetly, pointing to the tag.  Reluctantly, he adjusted the price and she paid. He seemed to take ages wrapping up the knife before he handed it to her in a small paper bag.  As if he were waiting for something. Rey itched to get out of the shop. “Thank you.”

The bell rang again as she left the shop, knife in hand, and made her way back to Diagon Alley.  Technically, she only needed to apparate back to Hogwarts and didn’t need to be in Diagon Alley to do it, but Knockturn Alley gave her the creeps.  

However, as she turned into Diagon Alley, she ran smack into a shopkeeper just opening his shop.  He instinctively let go of his keys and steadied her as she apologized. But, on second glance, she saw that it was none other than Han Solo.  Shit.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” he said, taking a step back and putting his hands on his hips as he surveyed her.  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’d snuck out of Hogwarts. But our esteemed Hufflepuff prefect wouldn’t do that, would you?”

“Of course not,” she answered, trying to suppress her nerves and the tremor in her voice.  “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

“I know you’re a friend of Poe Dameron and any friend of a Dameron is likely to get in trouble.  Just ask me. I used to fly with Kes Dameron. The dad, of course.” Han bent and retrieved his keys as he spoke.  “Now, kiddo, time to tell me what you’re really doing here. Out for a Firewhiskey run? You know, you could have just owled me.”  He caught sight of the bag in her hand. “That doesn’t look like Firewhiskey. And that seal looks an awful lot like Borgin and Burkes.  Tell me you haven’t been there, Rey.”

“Well…” she started, but she couldn’t tell him that.  The evidence was plain as day.

“Rey, what are you doing down there?  You know how dangerous it is. And you’re...well, with your blood status and all…”

“I’m fine, Han, really.  It was…” she hesitated. There wasn’t much she could tell him that he couldn't verify and quickly.  She could be in trouble before she got back to Hogwarts. “Believe it or not, Leia sent me.”

Han eyed her for a long moment.  “You’d better not be fibbing me, girl.  Then again, you’d be crazy to fib with that.  And that’s the only way you could have gotten out of Hogwarts at this time of morning, especially with all of those new measures they put in place.  So, I’ll believe you. Tell you what, I’ll even send you home with a bottle of Firewhiskey. I hear Poe got himself into a bit of a scrape.”

Han succeeded at last in opening the door.  As soon as he had his back turned to her, she shoved the paper bag into her pocket.  Rey looked up to the sign as she regained her whereabouts. “I didn’t know you owned Gambol and Japes,” she said as she processed the familiar writing.  “Didn’t Mr. Gambol die a few years back?”

“He did indeed,” Han answered with a sad shake of his head.  “Wonderful bloke. That’s when I acquired the premises. Thought about changing the name and all, but it’s been such a staple on Diagon Alley for so long.  Truth be told, it’s better for business...and I couldn’t come up with a better one myself. Come on in, kid. I think I have a spare bottle of firewhiskey in the back.”

However, before he could usher her inside and off the street, another man rounded the corner.  This one, however, looked like he belonged there. He wore the smartly pressed green uniform of a Patrol Officer, one from the Magical Law Enforcement office which had ramped up patrols in recent weeks...or so she’d read in the Prophet.  Rey thanked her lucky stars that she had pocketed the acquired item when his eyes fastened on her.

“What’s going on here?” the officer demanded, looking between Rey and Han poised in the door of his shop.  She watched Han’s shoulders go rigid and then relax as a charming smile spread across his face.  

“Morning, officer,” Han greeted him.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Cut it, Solo,” the officer sneered back.  Rey wondered if they had been previously acquainted.  Han was not known for keeping out of trouble with the law.  “I just had a report of a theft from Borgin and Burkes. You know the place.  The thief sounds an awful lot like your friend. What’s your name, girl?”

Rey opened her mouth to reply with the same bogus name she had given the shopkeeper before, but Han beat her to it.  “This here’s my niece, Sarah. She’s just come down to visit me and give me the news. I assure you she hasn’t been anywhere near Borgin and Burkes.  Who would want to? Strange lot, they are.”

“You must be an awfully devoted niece to visit so early in the morning,” the officer commented, eyeing Rey through narrowed eyes.  “Shouldn’t you be at Hogwarts?”

“Just graduated last year, actually,” she answered.  “Jobs are a little thin on the ground. Actually, Uncle Han promised me a job.  Isn’t that right, uncle?”

Han glowered at her.  “Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid.  Not a NEWT for this one, I swear.”

“Must be difficult to be without a job.  Maybe you ventured down to Borgin and Burkes to make ends meet.  You know, if  _ Uncle Han _ fails to produce a job.”

Rey wrinkled her nose and hoped she looked convincing.  “I don’t even  _ know _ what Borgin and Burkes sells or where they are.  Is that the secondhand robe shop down the street?”

“Knockturn Alley,” the officer snapped.

“Oh, mum always said never to go down there.  No good comes from that place. I’ve never even been there,” she remarked, hoping she sounded like a wayward Hogwarts grad and not a scared Hufflepuff.  

“Honestly, officer,” Han tried again.  “She apparated in right in front of me.  I’ve had my eye on her the whole time.” He leaned in and dropped his voice to a whisper.  “Her mum would kill me if I didn’t. She gets into trouble. Not stealing, mind you, or I’d never even consider hiring her.  More like blowing all her money on Fortescue’s.”

The officer evidently decided that he believed their story or at least didn’t care enough to keep following it up.  “Very well. But if you do see anything, you’ll let us know?”

“Of course,” they both said at the same time.  Han added, “good day, officer,” and tugged her bodily into the shop.

He rounded on her immediately.  “What the bloody hell were you thinking?  Stealing something from Borgin and Burkes?”

“I didn’t  _ steal _ anything,” she insisted.  “I paid for it, fair and square.  Would I have a bloody seal on the package if I didn’t?  He’s trying to frame me. Looked at me funny the whole time I was in there.”

Han crossed his arms over his chest.  “Leia’s smarter than this, kid. She would’ve sent someone who looked the part.  Not you.”

Rey sighed and threw up her arms.  “Alright, fine, Leia didn’t send me.  But, I swear, it’s Order business. Why else would I come down here?  You think it’s fun to walk into Knockturn Alley as a Mudblood?”

Han pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh.  “I have half a mind to floo Leia right now and get to the bottom of this.”

“She’ll tell you the same thing I did,” Rey insisted and this time she even told the truth.

“Alright,” Han gave up at last.  “Go into the back room and apparate back before someone notices your gone.  And I’d better not catch you anywhere near there again.”

“Thanks, Han, really.  For getting me out of that scrape.”

“Yeah, well, no Firewhiskey for you.”

“Fair enough.”

Rey apparated back to Hogwarts before he could change his mind.


	51. Shared Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben prepare to face the first tether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the unexpected absence! I thought I'd be able to get a chapter out before I left on a trip last week, but that just didn't happen. I'll reward you for your patience, though, and post another one tomorrow! :)

It was exactly one week after the Battle of Hogwarts that Rey remembered what Ben had told her just before the attack.  Somehow, in all the chaos and confusion, she had forgotten his piece of monumental news. It came flooding back to her as she sat as far in the back of the library as she could manage, very near the cordon for the Restricted Section.  

She was meant to be working, although classes were not set to resume until tomorrow.  She had been working, really, for a while. But then her head had started to throb and her hand hurt where she’d had to slit it open again and again to carve the blood runes.  When Ben’s voice found its way into her head for the first time since the battle, she sat in a shaft of sunlight, turning the knife over and over in her hands.  

_ “Rey.” _   The sound floated to her as if from a great distance.  She dropped the knife. It made a heavy clunk where it hit the wood of the table.   _ “Are you alright?” _

_ “I didn’t get hurt,”  _ she answered.  She didn’t know if she could truthfully say that she was alright.  One of her best friends had nearly died, she had helped save the castle from something meant to destroy her, she had nearly been arrested in Diagon Alley, and Leia had given her no new information about anything.   _ “We’re all fine.” _

_ “My mother…?” _

_ “Eliza had her up and going in an hour,”  _ Rey reassured him.   _ “She helped us take down that damned curse.  For the second time.” _

She regretted the sharpness in her tone when she felt his pang of guilt.   _ “He already knew it existed and he knew I had found my way in there.  It wasn’t my idea.” _

_ “I know,” _ she sent back, but she still couldn’t bring herself to forgive him fully.  She would. She had forgiven him for much worse things.  _ “A little warning would have been nice.” _

_ “Even I didn’t know what he planned to do with the bloody thing until the day of.  By then, it was too late. I couldn’t communicate with you.” _

_ “You did what you had to do,” _ Rey answered and forgave him.  After all, she knew too well that none of this was his doing.  It all came to rest on Snoke’s shoulders. And he would pay for his crimes in time.   _ “We’re all fine.  No casualties.” _

_ “I read it in the papers,” _ Ben said.  Rey had avoided the bolded headlines in the Prophet as much as she could.  After all, she had been there to witness it. She merely scanned over them once to see what Ben would glean from them, if he even needed to.   _ “I was scared to death I’d see your name printed there.” _

_ “We had it sorted.” _   Rey tried to sound upbeat, blase even, for his sake.  It had become so difficult to do that since the war started.  Worse since the battle. It felt as if the world would never be set to rights again.   _ “We did it once, why not again?” _

For a while, nothing came across the bond until Rey thought he had been called back to whatever Death Eaters did on their days off.  But, a moment later, his voice returned.  _ “I found a tether.” _

Rey’s heart migrated into her throat.  It all came flooding back then, what he had said to her before the attack.  She’d put it out of her mind out of necessity, but now it could be ignored no longer.   _ “You’re sure?” _

_ “Yes.  It’s in a forest.  I think it’s a magical artefact.  I’m trying to find out more about it and what we might face when we reach it.  As you can imagine, there’s not much to go off of.” _

_ “Well,” _ she took a deep breath and answered.   _ “I guess it’s a good thing I found out how to destroy them.” _

A blip of excitement mingled with undeniable fear pulsed across the bond.   _ “You did?” _

_ “Yes and I have what we need to do it.  I need a few days to finish it. Then, we’ll be ready.” _   Unconsciously, she flexed her bandaged hand.  Would they be ready? No. But, then again, would they ever be ready?  

Now that they prepared to walk into the lion’s den, Rey realized the gravity of what she’d signed up for.  What would they face when they went after the tether? Would they even be able to destroy it? Yes, she was fairly certain the knife would work once she completed it.  More to the point, would they be able to face the trials Snoke threw in their way? What cruel tricks would he conjure to bar their path?  

_ “Be careful, Rey,” _ he said.  She could feel his concern deep in her chest.  She felt his unspoken goodbye too, as if he had been summoned elsewhere at a moment’s notice.  Ben didn’t speak to her again and nothing emanated from his side of the bond.  

Nevertheless, that night, Rey had another dream...or memory.  Unlike last time, it didn’t remain one concrete vision but shifted seamlessly between several scenes, leaving her breathless whenever it snapped her from one location and time to another.

She opened her eyes first into a carriage.  She sat between Leia and Han, with Professor Skywalker sitting across from them, but Rey recognized right away that she viewed the scene from a much shorter vantage point than she was used to.  From when Ben was a child, then. Wasn’t he a child still, at barely seventeen? Could he still count as a child after what he’d done? Could any of them?

“Look, Ben,” Leia said and pointed out of the carriage window.  Rey (or Ben) craned to see what she indicated and spied the spires of Hogwarts.  For Ben, it was the first time. The unmistakable sensation of wonder and awe welled up inside his child’s heart.  For Rey, it still felt like home. She recognized that feeling. But for Ben, it was mildly terrifying.

“We’re going to live there?” he asked his mother and she nodded.  “Will my room still be down the hall from yours?”

“This year, yes,” Leia said.  “But next year, you’ll be sorted into a house of your own and then you’ll be in the dormitories and common rooms with the other students and won’t want any part of me.”

Ben’s eyes widened.  “That’s not true.”  

“You won’t be far from me,” Leia reassured him.  “Uncle Luke has dragged me in here for good. I’ll come and visit the tower often, since I’ll be the Head of House next year too.”

“Or the basement,” Han muttered.  Ben looked between them as if he had heard this conversation many times but still didn’t fully understand it.  “He may be a Hufflepuff still.”

“Oh, come, Han,” Luke said at last, breaking out of his pensive silence.  “You know the boy’s not a Hufflepuff. Gryffindor, perhaps, and Leia will have a different tower to visit.”  Luke’s eyes twinkled as he said it. “Yes, Gryffindor it is. Just like your Uncle.”

Ben grinned at him and thought that he would like to be in Uncle Luke’s house, but Gryffindor had always seemed so terrifying to him.  Uncle Luke had told him often of the soldiers who had gone into battle beside him, like Kes Dameron and Shara Bey. And Wedge Antilles, whom Luke had flown beside for years.  But some of them hadn’t been lucky. Some of them hadn’t survived.

“You have to be brave to be in Gryffindor,” Luke added.

Ben didn’t feel very brave.  Not when the castle itself scared him.

“He’s a Ravenclaw,” Leia said with finality.  “Just look how many books he brought with him.  He’ll join my house for sure and then you’ll all have to admit that I was right.  Mother’s intuition.” Ben didn’t know if he wanted to be a Ravenclaw. His mother had been brilliant and bright during her whole career, but she had also been away so often.  Did that come with being a Ravenclaw?

On his other side, Han grunted.  “Other houses study, you know. This is a school.  Kid sure does like his books,” his father muttered.  Ben dropped his eyes to his hands knotted in his lap.  Han had never come to terms with his son loving books so much.  “But he also likes to fly. He’ll make a good Hufflepuff Quidditch player, do our house proud.”

“Or a Ravenclaw Quidditch player,” Leia reminded him.

“Maybe he’ll be a Slytherin, surprise us all, and make a complete set,” Luke added cheerfully across the carriage, his eyes crinkled at Ben.  “Think about it. We’d have one of each house.”

“Don’t say that, Luke,” Leia chided him.  “No son of mine will be a Slytherin.”

Ben didn’t want to be a Slytherin, then.

Rey’s vision tilted and she slid out of that vision and into another.  This time, the body she inhabited stood taller. After a moment, she recognized the Great Hall, darkened with disuse.  The sky above her glistened with a carpet of stars against the ceiling. Ben moved between the empty house tables. Except, when she looked again, she realized that they weren’t as empty as she had originally perceived.  This thought seemed to strike Ben at the same moment. His footsteps paused for a bare second when he spotted her lying on the table, a half-empty bottle of amber liquid dangling off the table in one hand.

Neither of them knew what drove him forward nor what had brought him there in the first place.  All he knew was that he ended up standing over a very drunk, very sad Rey. Watching herself on the house table all those months ago, Rey flinched.  She had felt a little more put together than she looked.

Inside, Ben was all confusion.  “Did you want me to talk to you?”

He watched her swallow, fumble for words.  “I thought maybe we’d become friends of a sort.”

Ben felt her words as if she’d driven a stake into his heart.  Rey wanted to be friends...with him? His head spun. Why would she want to be friends with him?  He’d called her a mudblood and worse. He’d treated her as if she wasn’t worth the scum on his shoes.  Why reach out to him now? He had been better in the last few months. He knew that because he had made an effort to be better, but he didn’t think he’d made  _ that _ much progress.  

One thought stuck with him and echoed in his head again and again.

Ben Solo didn’t deserve to be friends with Rey Niima.

She lay with her back against the grain of the table, watching him with those entrancing eyes of hers, like she couldn’t quite puzzle him out.  Merlin, she always looked at him like that. Ben knew he’d been silent for too long, but his brain had short-circuited.  

Merlin’s bloody beard, he didn’t deserve her.  He didn’t deserve to stand in her presence and converse with her.  He didn’t deserve to have her looking at him like that. He didn’t deserve an  _ ounce _ of respect or kindness from her, nevertheless  _ friendship _ .  If only she knew what he had become,  _ really _ become, she wouldn’t look at him like that.  She wouldn’t spare him a second glance. And that was something he would deserve.

Merlin, he needed a drink.  He borrowed hers without even asking.

Somehow, he ended up holding her while she cried and he didn’t deserve that either.  But he treasured every second of it as he carried her back to her common room and left her bleary-eyed at the door.

It was at that moment that Ben Solo knew he was a goner for Rey Niima.

Ben sat on a cold stone floor, his back propped painfully against the castle wall.  A deep chill had seeped into his bones alongside the flurries of snow outside and his stomach growled, but still he did not move.  He kept his eyes trained on the stack of barrels across the hall. Every time they opened, he sat up and hoped that this would be the time Rey emerged.  But she never did, even for meals, which he skipped too, lest he miss his chance. It had been more than a day - he knew that much - and still she did not appear.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and Ben didn’t even bother turning his head to look at them.  Rey couldn’t come from that way unless she’d flown out of a window to avoid him and no one else mattered.  The footsteps stopped in front of him and he looked up to see none other than Professor Kenobi, an annoying, smug smile on his face. 

“What do you want?” Ben growled and wished that he hadn’t decided to set up shop so obviously outside of the Hufflepuff common room.  Couldn’t there be a convenient tapestry there for him to secret himself behind?

“So ungrateful, my godson,” Kenobi said, tapping his cane on the ground.  “Harsh words for an old man.”

“Why would I be grateful to you?”  He didn’t have the capacity to read into Kenobi’s words.  He hadn’t eaten or slept in days, done nothing except stare at the door to the Hufflepuff common room and mull over what he’d done to deserve this.

“Because I’m helping you,” Kenobi answered without losing that infuriating smile.

Ben wanted to yell at him, wanted to hex him even, until he stopped being so cryptic and just explained himself.  “Help me? You’ve never helped me in your life, Kenobi.”

His eyes grew sad.  “Oh, Ben, that’s all I’ve ever done.  But I’m not here for you. I’m here for Ms. Niima. It just so happens that her fate is intertwined with yours.”

“What are you talking about?” Ben asked, rolling his eyes at him.  “That’s all you’ve ever been. Mysterious and unhelpful.”

Kenobi didn’t answer, just smiled to himself again and entered the Hufflepuff common room, leaving Ben sitting outside on the cold stone, his back cramped and painful.

Rey awoke in a cold sweat in her bed in the Hufflepuff dormitories and reached for the Runes book on her bedside table.


	52. Winter's Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I promised you another chapter and I delivered. Enjoy!

“You should go to the Hospital Wing,” Rose told her at breakfast, eyeing the bandage that wound around her left hand.  “I bet Eliza could heal that in a pinch.”

“It’s fine, Rose,” Rey told her for the fourteenth time and hid her hand beneath the table to avoid her friends’ stares.  In truth, Eliza had already offered to heal the wound for her, but she had declined. She knew, from all of the reading she’d been doing in every moment of spare time she had, that a wound once affected with runic magic wouldn’t heal by magical means.  It would be a slow process, one she wasn’t used to anymore. “Healer Zarrin’s busy with the casualties of the battle. I don’t want to put more on him. And Eliza’s studying for her exam.”

“It’ll just take a moment,” Hannah joined in the reasoning.  “Healer Zarrin’s not so busy as that. I bet he could wave his wand from across the room and close it up, just like that.”

“I said it’s fine,” Rey snapped and ignored the confused stares she received as she rose from the table.  “It’s just a cut. It’ll heal up in a few days.” She shouldered her messenger bag and made to leave the table.  “I’ll see you later. I forgot a book in the dorm.”

She could feel their eyes on her as she walked away but didn’t turn around.  They had been looking at her like that for weeks. Before she had made it fully out of earshot, she heard Rose say, “what’s gotten into her?  She’s been like that for a week.”

Rey tried to ignore the stab of guilt that pierced her heart at that.  She didn’t turn back. She knew she’d been short with her friends in the last week, but she also couldn’t bring herself to care as much as she knew she should.

Ben had confirmed that he had found one of the tethers.  Just the day before, Rey had completed the knife that she’d purchased at Borgin and Burkes.  Even he had not realized what he had. Of course, she doubted many others would want such an item.  She only wanted it because of the tethers and, even so, she couldn’t wait to get rid of the thing. It now had thin lines of blood runes down both sides of the blade which Rey had carved with her own blood.  Ben had pressed her several times to learn more about how she’d crafted the knife, but she hadn’t told even him what she’d done.

As she walked back to her common room, Rey flexed her bandaged hand and felt the sting lance up her arm.  It was a constant reminder of the levels she’d gone to in order to defeat Snoke. Would her friends be as concerned if they knew she’d gotten her wound performing blood magic?  Would even Ben be okay with what she’d done? And what new challenges would this tether bring for them? Rey wasn’t sure she was ready to find out.

They’d agreed to go on Friday, when Snoke would be otherwise occupied and wouldn’t notice Ben’s absence.  With every passing day, she grew more nervous. Part of her, one she tried to bury, also anticipated that day.  It would be the first time she’d seen Ben since Snoke called him to his side. It would be a relief just to see him in person again, instead of the snatches of conversation and feeling she received across the bond.

With a sigh, she snatched up the book she’d left and hurried to her first class.  She’d have to do better at faking it if she hoped to dupe her friends into not worrying about her, especially when she skipped class on Friday.

The sun rose over Hogwarts on Friday morning and streamed in through the circular windows, yet Rey did not stir.  The other occupants of her dormitory awoke around her and started shuffling around quietly, gathering their uniforms and the things they needed and heading into their shared bathroom.  After a while, Rose tiptoed closer. Rey kept her eyes closed as her friend leaned over and checked on her. She nudged her softly.  

“Rey, if you don’t get up, you’ll be late,” she whispered, nudging her a little harder when she didn’t respond.

Rey made a show of turning over and groaning.  She pressed the heels of her palms to her face.  “I’m not going,” she muttered. “I feel rotten.”

The loo door opened and Hannah traded places with Eliza.  “What’s going on?” Eliza asked.

“Rey’s not feeling well,” Rose said, pressing the back of her hand to Rey’s forehead.  “I think she’s sick.”

Eliza joined Rose beside Rey’s bed and pressed her hand to Rey’s forehead and cheeks.  “Hmm,” she said, her fingers cool and reassuring. She’d make a good healer. “You do feel a little warm.  I can give you some potions, if you want…”

On any other day, Rey would have taken her up on that offer.  She hated missing class for no reason. Today, she turned over in her bed and groaned.  “No, I’m just going to go back to sleep for a bit. I’ll go to Healer Zarrin later.”

Eliza and Rose exchanged glances but eventually shrugged and left her in peace but only after offering everything in the book and trying to make her as comfortable as possible.  By the time all the girls left her alone in the dormitory, Rey felt guilty about lying to them. Rose would probably bring her food during lunch, even though Rey had made it very clear that she did not feel like eating.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Rey sprang out of bed.  Unbeknownst to her friends and roommates, Rey had been far from asleep for most of the night.  She’d woken before the sun even made its first appearance and dressed for the task at hand, but since she usually slept in a Muggle t-shirt anyway, no one had noticed.  Now, she tugged her boots out from under the bed, pulled a jacket over her shoulders and a hat down over her head, and shouldered the pack she’d stashed away the night before.  She did her best to make her bed resemble her sleeping form. If they discovered that she was gone, she’d make up some excuse. That was a problem for later.

_ “Ben,” _ she said across their bond and hoped he was as free as he had promised today.   _ “I’m coming to you _ .”

Rey closed her eyes and apparated.

She opened her eyes in a snow-covered wood.  In the distance, she could see a sleepy Muggle town, still quiet in the pre-dawn light, a few curls of smoke snaking their way towards the gray sky.  Snow and twigs crunched beneath her boots and brought with it the sharp, cold smell of winter. Faintly, she could smell the burning fireplaces down the slope.  She sighed, her breath coming out in a cloud of steam.

They couldn’t risk meeting right away.  She repositioned her pack on her shoulders so that it sat more comfortably and headed into the woods.  The path sloped gently upwards. Her movements weren’t quiet. Ice and frozen branches snapped under her feet with every step.  Rey didn’t try to mask her sounds. If anyone was out in these woods at this time of morning, they’d be looking for her anyway.  

She walked for about fifteen minutes, although every bit of forest looked the same as the one that came before it.  The town receded in the distance. Soon, she was surrounded by nothing but trees and frozen earth. If she didn’t know better, she would have gotten endlessly lost in these woods, but she could see the dawn sun staining the horizon purple and used that to determine her direction.  When she reached the top of a rise, she stopped and checked her enchanted piece of map. She’d found the right spot. Now, all she had to do was wait.

Rey used her wand to clear a small patch at the base of a tree and sat in the dead grass, her back propped against the trunk.  Ben would be there soon. She couldn’t help the flutter of nervousness that disturbed her stomach. He would find her. He always found her.  It seemed like such a long time to wait for him, with nothing to keep her company but the stern skeletons of the forest and the occasional twittering of a bird.  

After a while -- she couldn’t tell how long -- she heard a sound in the distance that was distinctly not a natural one.  It resolved itself into clear footsteps through the snow. Rey leapt to her feet and clutched her wand in her frozen hand, her eyes darting around for the figure.  At long last, Ben appeared around the trunk of a tree. Rey breathed for the first time that morning.

“Ben,” she breathed, his name coming out of her in a cloud.  

He stood before her, real and in the flesh, his cheeks tinged pink with the cold.  He looked nothing like the last time she’d seen him, clad head to toe in black, his face shielded by an iron mask.  Although he still wore black, from his canvas jacket to his shoes, he wore no mask now. She could see the relief in his eyes when he spotted her at their rendezvous point.  

“Thank Merlin, Rey,” he whispered.  Before she knew it, she’d crossed the distance between them and found herself in his arms.  He embraced her willingly, burying his head in her hair and clinging to her as if he never wanted to let her go.  She echoed the sentiment.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said into his chest, breathing in the scent that was unmistakably Ben.  She hadn’t even known she’d been missing it until now. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, smoothing down her hair and pressing his lips to the top of her hair.  “I’m fine. I’m here.”

The bond between them came alight, as if it too had been waiting for this moment.  She could feel a myriad of emotions rolling off of him as if he didn’t have the willpower to keep them back: relief, fear, care...love.  Merlin, it knocked her knees out from under her.

“Are you alright?” he asked at last, his voice rough and raw.  She nodded without releasing him, though she knew she would need to soon.  They had a job to do, not just a cold reunion in the middle of the woods. She didn’t feel cold anymore.

Finally, though, she had to pull back.  He held her hands in his, as if unwilling to lose all physical contact with her so quickly.  His dark eyes roamed over her. She felt his question when he spied the bandage tied around her palm still.  

“What happened?”

She shook her head, not meeting his eyes.  “It’s nothing.”

“Then, why haven’t you healed it yet?” he pressed, enfolding her hand gently in his.

She shrugged.  “Hospital Wing’s been busy.”

“And I know that Hufflepuff friend of yours is next in line for Head of St. Mungo’s.  Fine, I’ll heal it for you,” he said and made to remove the bandage. She pulled her hand away before he could.

“It won’t heal, alright?” she said, hating how sharp her voice sounded.  “It has to heal the normal way.”

“Rey,” he said slowly, dangerously.  “Who did this to you?”

“No one,” she answered, fighting the urge to hide her hand behind her back.

His eyes scanned her face.  “Have you been tracing blood runes?”

She nodded.  “We needed them.”  At that, she pulled out the knife that she’d been working on every spare moment for days.  “It’ll destroy the tethers. It was forged with runes, but I added some blood runes of my own to make sure.”

Ben picked up the cruel blade.  It looked so out of place in the snowy woods.  Rey hated that thing. She wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.  But first, they had to get rid of the tethers and, for that, they needed the knife.

“You should have let me do it,” he said, turning the knife over in his hands and inspecting the runes she’d carved into its surface.  He sighed. “But you’ve always been better at Runes than me, I suppose.”

“That’s not true,” she said, taking the knife from him and returning it to her pack, out of sight where it belonged.  “Anyway, I had the book and the knife...and the blood, for that matter. It didn’t make sense for you to do it.”

“Speaking of which,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.  “Where did you get that knife? Not exactly something they’d have lying around at a Muggle antique store, is it?”

“You’d be surprised.”  He didn’t look convinced.  “Borgin and Burkes. I know, I know, but I gave him a false name.  He sent a bloody security officer after me anyway...your dad got me out of that little scrape.”

Ben cursed under his breath and wrapped his arms around her again.  “You have to be more careful, Rey. Snoke’s already infiltrating the ministry.  If they catch you doing anything mysterious  _ and _ they find out you’re a muggleborn, who knows what they’ll do.”

She shuddered a little at that.  She didn’t know Snoke had wormed his way so deep into the Ministry already.  Of course, that was bound to be one of his first goals, but if he’d managed it so quickly, that meant he had managed to convert some high-ranking members.  Even Leia couldn’t counteract that.

“I didn’t know,” she murmured into his chest.  “I’ll be more careful.”

“He’s furious, you know.  That you outwitted him at Hogwarts.”  He hesitated. “Please be careful, Rey.  You have to lay low. You’re already on his radar.”

She nodded.  She figured she must be.  Ben would have to tell Snoke everything or risk revealing himself as a traitor and with some other Hogwarts students in their ranks, he couldn’t afford to leave Rey out of the picture.  It wasn’t exactly a secret that they had worked together in the past semester, although she doubted the Slytherins knew to what extent. And Ben must have been the one to tell Snoke about the Cursed Vault in the first place.

As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, Ben said, “I didn’t know what he’d do to the curse in the vault, Rey, I swear.  I told him about it, but I had no idea he would try to  _ modify _ it.  Merlin, Rey, if something had happened to you...I would never forgive myself.”

“It’s alright, Ben,” she comforted him, drawing soothing circles on his back.  “I’m fine.”

“It made me sick just thinking about it.  I’m glad you were able to stop it in time.  I don’t want any Hogwarts students to get hurt...and just the thought of it coming after you in particular…”  He shuddered through his whole body. She could feel it in her bones. “Rey, he’s so powerful. Sometimes I wonder if we’ll be able to defeat him at all or if it’ll all be for nothing.”

Rey pulled back suddenly to look at him.  “It  _ won’t  _ be for nothing, Ben.  No one got hurt from that curse.  We stopped it for the second time.  It was no more dangerous for me than it would have been anyway.  And maybe we won’t succeed in killing him ourselves, but at least when someone else does, we’ll make it that much easier.  We’ll weaken him.”

Ben nodded, his face set.  “Now,” she said, grinning at him through her fear.  “Let’s go destroy a tether.”


	53. The Heart of the Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben face their first tether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments! Keep 'em coming, you know, if you want to. :)

Rey shivered as a breath of wind found its way down her jacket and sent icy needles down her spine.  Although they had been walking for the better part of half an hour, the air seemed no colder than when they had begun.  In fact, Rey rather suspected that her toes were going numb. Ben had lent her his scarf, winding it about her neck when he saw her shivering, and apologized that they couldn’t just apparate the rest of the way.  Apparently, the protection spells made that impossible.  

Rey and Ben stood now before a stand of trees that grew unnaturally close together, so close, in fact, that there was no space to squeeze through.  They were a different sort of tree from the rest of the forest too and just looking at it made the back of Rey’s neck prickle with unease.

“Is this it?” she asked, her breath coming out in a haze, although she knew it was.  Ben nodded but didn’t move. “How can you tell?” How could he not?

“I can feel it,” he breathed.  She reached through their bond, seeking to feel what he did, but he gently repelled her and she got no hint of it.  The rebuttal did not offend Rey. She could not blame him for that.

Now that they stood in front of the first tether, Rey’s nervousness reasserted itself.  How foolish they seemed, standing in front of magic much older and more powerful than them.  How could she have thought that two students, not even graduated from Hogwarts yet, could weaken Snoke?  She didn’t even know where to start, but she gripped the knife in her pocket.

“What now?” she asked when Ben still stood as a statue.

Her words seemed to wake him from his trance.  He drew his wand and ran it down one of the tree trunks.  Runes appeared across its surface and Rey tilted her head to read them properly as they spread to other trees around them.

“Protective wards,” she muttered as she did.  Merlin, these were far more complicated than any she had ever seen before.  “How do we get through them?” she wondered more to herself than to him. She doubted her usual tricks and runic sequences would suffice this time.

“Snoke will have something complicated rigged up,” Ben muttered, his eyes screwed up as he read the runes too.  “It won’t be easy to get through, naturally.”

“I think…” Rey started and then hesitated.  Her brain puzzled out these runes so slowly.  But, yes, that felt right. It felt like something Snoke would do.  “I think we have to sacrifice something.”

“Sacrifice?” Ben asked at once, his head turning sharply towards her.  “Like what?”

“Something we value.  That’s the only way it will open.  Who knows what else we’ll find beyond it?” she said.  Snoke would come up with something like that.

“Each of us or just one?” Ben wondered aloud.  

“Let’s try one first,” Rey said.  “And see if that works. Do I even have anything of value on me?”  Her mind went immediately to the thing she wore that she valued most.  She tugged back her sleeve to reveal the watch Ben gave her for Christmas.  The hand on the clock labeled  _ Ben _ currently pointed to  _ in danger _ .  The rest of her friends showed  _ Hogwarts _ .  Well, at least she knew the thing worked, for they were certainly in danger now.  Reluctantly, she unclasped the article from her wrist and held it up until it caught the light.  “There’s this, I suppose.”

Ben covered both her hand and the watch with his own hand.  “No, not that.”

“Well, you can’t very well get rid of yours.  I won’t have it,” she retorted but put the watch on again nonetheless.

Ben thought for a moment.  The only other thing Rey could think of that she really valued was her wand, but it would be insane to get rid of that, especially over a watch.  Sure, she loved her Christmas present and it was useful, but over her wand? No, her wand was more an extension of herself.

“I know,” Ben said at last.  Without explanation, he handed her his wand and the pack he wore on his back.  Before she knew what was happening, he had divested himself of his cloak and slid his sweater off.  In another situation, the sight of a shirtless Ben might have distracted her. As it was, it only added to her confusion and general alarm.

“What are you doing?  Ben, it’s freezing out here.  What’s your sweater got to do with anything?” she asked hurriedly.  Ben shivered and summoned a plain t-shirt from his pack to wear instead.  It wasn’t nearly enough in the winter chill, though he wrapped his cloak around himself.  

“It’s something I value,” he said, holding out the emerald green sweater, still warm from his body heat.  Rey finally recognized it as the one Leia had given him for Christmas.  

“At least take your scarf back,” she insisted even when he tried to make her keep it.  He held the sweater up to the runes on the tree and it vanished. For an aching second, Rey was afraid that it hadn’t worked, but then the trees slowly separated to reveal a narrow entrance that shielded what was beyond.  They exchanged a glance and stepped just inside the door.  

Rey looked around and tried to get her bearings.  They stood in a small grove surrounded on all sides by close-set trees that shielded the outside world from view.  The space inside was larger than they had originally thought. At the center of the clearing stood an enormous tree with a knotted trunk, its long tendrils swaying lightly in the breeze.  If she hadn’t felt so uneasy, Rey thought, it might have been beautiful.

“I don’t see a magical artefact,” she whispered to Ben.  For some reason, it felt wrong to speak very loudly in that place.  The very air prickled with concealed magic.  

“Maybe it’s in that tree?” Ben suggested.  Rey somehow doubted that. How would Snoke conceal a magical artefact inside a tree?  There didn’t seem to be any entrance or hidden compartment. But, then again, they weren’t very close to it either.  

Rey drew her wand, sure that getting to the tether wouldn’t be easy.  “I’ll get a closer look. Stay here.”

Ben grabbed her arm.  “Wait, Rey, I’ll come with you.”

She shook him off.  “We don’t know what’s over there.  We can’t both go walking in blind. Stay here in case anything happens.”

Rey took a deep breath and faced the tree again.  What traps had Snoke planted for them? Land mines?  It didn’t seem like his style. Would Healer Zarrin be able to regrow her leg if she lost it to a land mine?  Could magic do that? She had heard of a bloke regrowing some bones once. If that could happen, surely they could put her leg back on.  What if it was a  _ magical _ land mine?  Rey wasn’t sure if the panic in her chest belonged to her or Ben anymore.  She took a step closer to the tree before she could change her mind.

She didn’t get any farther.  Ben pulled her back before she could take another step closer to the tree with such force that they both toppled over.  He cushioned her fall. By some miracle, he avoided meeting the ground with his head. Rey looked back to the spot where she’d been standing just a moment earlier to see an enormous branch denting the ground.  She had been a hair’s breadth from getting squashed.

“Shit,” she breathed, picking herself up and offering her hand to pull him up.  Her heart raced in her chest. Tether One and she’d almost died. “Thanks, Ben.”

“Don’t mention it,” he muttered, eyeing the tree as it picked itself back up, leaving a sizeable divet in the ground.  It returned to its neutral and unassuming position, as neutral as when they’d entered the clearing.  

“Is that…”  She shook her head.  It couldn’t be. “Is that a Whomping Willow?”  

“I think it is,” Ben said, eyeing the tree, which almost dared them to try again.  “Although, I think it might be even angrier than the one at Hogwarts.”

Rey turned and realized that the trees had moved back into position behind them.  They had no way out. They were trapped inside with the demon tree. She nudged Ben in the ribs and he noticed too.

“What do you think are the chances of us dying the second we take another step?” she asked, watching the branches of the tree for any sign of movement.  Were these other trees enchanted as well? Did they have to look out for swinging branches on all sides?

“Whomping Willows are the only ones that can do that and these aren’t Whomping Willows,” Ben said.  She must have projected her thoughts because he answered them aloud. “And I’d say pretty high.”

“Great,” Rey muttered.  How would they find the tether like this?  They didn’t even know what they were looking for.  Ben had suspected a magical artefact, but they knew nothing more than that.  Not what it looked like, nor how large it was, nor what it could do… 

“We can’t focus on the tree,” Ben said, echoing her thoughts whether he knew it or not.  “We have to find the tether.”

The thought dawned on Rey and she turned her wide eyes to Ben.  “Ben, I think the tree  _ is _ the tether.”

He considered that with a grim set to his mouth.  “There’s only one way to find out.”

Rey nodded, feeling a stone settle in the pit of her stomach.  “Get closer.” She took a deep breath and tried to not panic. “Do you want to be on stunning duty or dodge the branches duty?”

Neither option seemed preferable, if she was being honest.  “You pick,” he answered after a moment. “I’ll do either.”

“Well,” she reasoned.  “I’m smaller, so I’ll be a harder target.  And you’re better at defensive spells than I am.”

Ben frowned when he realized what she was suggesting.  “I don’t like it.”

Rey reached into her pocket and gripped the knife.  “Let’s be honest, Ben, neither option is a great one and the longer we stand here, the colder we get.  Can you keep those things off me?”

“Yeah,” he said and squared his shoulders.  “I’ll keep them off you. Just get to the tree.”

“Don’t get hit,” she warned.  He nodded once. Rey took up a runner’s stance and readied herself to sprint as soon as Ben’s first spell hit the tree.  He readied his wand and she could see the goose pimples on his arms. Merlin, help them not die before they get to the tether.

Ben sent her a warning in his mind before he fired the first shot.  The tree sprang to life at once, it’s tendrils snaking out and coming to life, all heading to where she and Ben stood.  His stunning spell froze one of the branches, but there were still dozens coming for them. For a heart-stopping moment, Rey wondered if Ben would be able to hold them all off alone.

Rey ran, dodging between the branches of the tree.  She would have to trust him. Ben was a better spellcaster than almost anyone she knew.  If anyone could do it, he could. With that in mind, Rey focused on the task at hand and ran as fast as she dared towards the trunk of the tree.  She made progress, too, and for one, elated moment, she believed she would make it.  

Until a tendril of the tree tripped her.  

Rey went sprawling, head over feet, and slid painfully to a stop on her shoulder.  The vine remained wrapped around her ankle, preventing her from rising. She found her wand unharmed and fired a spell at it, but another came and then another and another.  Too many to fire spells at in her position. Perhaps, she thought, perhaps it had been unwise to only bring two people for such task. Or perhaps they were doomed from the start, prophecy or no.  

She could see Ben halfway across the clearing, battling vines and branches much better than she did herself.  Merlin, it took her breath away, the skill with which he fended off so many at once. It was a good thing that he hadn’t really gone over to the dark side or they would have a formidable enemy on their hands.  

Rey slashed her wand through the air and cut through another tendril.  Before the tree could realize she was free and come for her again, she scrambled to her feet and ran towards the tree.  She slashed out with her wand whenever she felt the tickle of a leaf on her ankle or at even the slightest touch. Probably, she fired at nothing at all half the time.  

By the time she reached the trunk, her breath came hard in her chest and throat.  She didn’t have time to slow her heart rate. She searched the whirls and ridges of the tree bark with her fingers and her eyes for the barest hint of runes.  Did the tether even leave a visible sign? They didn’t know. It struck Rey as she hunted for signs on the tree that they had entered this woefully unprepared.  Just two kids with terror in their hearts and a stupid mission almost sure to fail.  

Behind her, Ben cried out as one of the branches made contact and sent him bodily to the ground.  Rey turned and fired spells to help stun the branches when stunning the trunk didn’t seem to work.  Strange. The Whomping Willow at Hogwarts could be stunned by a strong hit to the heart of the tree.  This one must be magically protected. Which meant that even if it wasn’t the tether itself, it certainly housed the tether.  She’d have to destroy the tree regardless.

“Leave me!” Ben shouted to her, fighting off the branches again.  He still hadn’t managed to rise. “Rey, destroy the tether!”

Even from this distance, she could see the blood on his face.  The branches made contact more often now. Rey wanted to help him battle the tree desperately, but if she could destroy the tree, he would be safe much faster.  Reluctantly, she turned her attention back to the tree.

The bark of the trunk was so thick or reinforced that her spells did nothing against it.  Panic seized up in her throat. What if they  _ couldn’t _ destroy it?  What if Snoke had buried the tether so deep that they wouldn’t be able to crack into it at all?  Rey fought to calm herself and stunned another branch that threatened to hit Ben from behind. There had to be a way.  After all, Snoke had carved the runes that bound his life force to the tree. He must have gotten through the bark to do so.  

In frustration, she lashed out at the closest root.  It broke apart, showering her with wood chips and slicing into her skin, under the force of her spell.  Rey stared at it in amazement. “The roots,” she muttered to herself. “The roots are the weak point.”

Rey got to work hacking her way at the roots.  She had to get to the interior of the tree, wherever the tether had been carved or hidden.   _ “Incendio!” _ she called and the closest root caught fire.  The tree seemed to realize it was under attack because soon it turned its attention onto her rather than Ben.  This gave him a moment to recover and go on the offensive, but it became a problem for her as she tried to fight off stray vines and work her way into the interior of the tree at the same time.  

But not many vines and branches reached her.  Although she was far closer to their source, Ben kept them well at bay, stunning each one that dared to come close to her.  Rey continued to tear her way into the heart of the tree.

At long last, Rey uncovered the living center of the tree.  It had been carved over with more runes than she could count.  The usually pale wood had been turned a sickly shade of black by the magic it held.  Perhaps that same influence had made it angrier than usual. The interior of the tree remained unharmed from her spells as the bark had before.  Rey knew that no spell could destroy this type of magic. The tether had made it impervious.  

Knowing this, Rey put away her wand and drew the rune-carved knife.  The cruel blade sat uneasily in her hand. It seemed such a shame to kill the tree and kill it the knife would.  The tether had bonded too closely with the life force of the tree, everything she’d read had told her that. Rey took a deep breath and plunged the knife into the tree.  

The willow flew into a frenzy, all of its limbs and tendrils lashing out at everything in its vicinity.  Rey was knocked back, the knife wrenched from her hands as she was blown free of the tree by one of its branches.  She landed hard on the same shoulder and cried out at the pain. She could feel Ben somewhere to her right but whether he had been knocked back by the tree or had brought himself there, she didn’t know.  He put his hand on the small of her back and helped her crawl to the edge of the clearing, free of the tree’s death throes.  

At long last, the knife completed its task.  All at once, the tree ceased its thrashing and drooped, lifeless.  The trunk of the tree broke with an almighty  _ snap _ and the tree crashed to the ground, it’s formerly verdant branches gray and still.  Hesitantly, Rey stood and took a step towards the tree. She couldn’t help but be nervous despite its clear death.  Nothing happened. Not even a leaf stirred in the clearing.  

“Do you think it worked?” she asked Ben.

“If it didn’t,” he answered.  “I don’t know what will. It was the tree, then?”

She nodded and started across the clearing to retrieve the knife.  She found it lying innocently on the ground, as if it hadn’t just snapped one of Snoke’s tethers.  Some dark liquid blackened it, the same substance that oozed from the blackened interior of the dead tree.  She wiped the weapon off on the ground and put it back in its sheath in her pocket. Finally, she turned to Ben.

“You look like hell,” she told him.  He did. He had leaves in his hair, which stuck out from his head at all angles, and scratches on his face, including one that bled into his eyebrow.  He was favoring his left ankle and she suspected that he’d sprained it in a fall. His pant leg was torn open.  

“You don’t look much better.”  Ben let her see herself through his eyes.  She hadn’t realized how worse for wear she’d gotten.  She too had leaves sticking out of her hair and scratches covering every exposed inch of skin.  The way she held her right arm made it obvious that she’d hurt her shoulder.  

“Let’s get out of here,” she muttered, glancing back at the tree.  She couldn’t even bring herself to feel glad that they’d destroyed it.  “D’you think we have to give something up again to get out?”

It appeared that they did not.  Whether it was responding to their exit or because of the death of the tree, the grove had separated somewhat, enough that they could squeeze through the gaps in the trunks.  They soon found themselves out of the clearing and in the snow again. Rey shivered a little in the renewed wind. The snow had melted into her clothes when she fell and soaked them, which didn’t help the cold that crept in on them again.  She pulled out her wand and dried her clothes, doing the same for Ben.

“Let me heal you,” she said, grabbing him by the shoulder to steady him.  “If you go back looking like that, people are bound to ask questions.”

“Most wouldn’t dare,” he remarked.  “Probably assume some secret mission.”

“Something tells me Hux and Krennic aren’t so easily cowed,” she said and started healing him anyway.  She had never been particularly good at healing, but she had made Eliza teach her a few basic spells that she thought would be useful.  

The cuts on his face resolved with little effort.  The ones on his leg and his ankle were a different story.  They didn’t seem to want to heal, despite her best efforts.  It didn’t seem to bother Ben.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her when she grunted in frustration for the third time.  “I’ll find something when I’m back. Some of the healers don’t ask questions. Your turn.”

He made her sit still while he healed her few cuts.  He didn’t even attempt her shoulder. By his own admission, Ben was also not skilled at healing spells.  Rey resolved to learn more of them now that she knew they would be so useful. When he’d finished what he could manage, Rey wrapped her arms around his waist.  

“I don’t want you to go,” she admitted into his chest.  

“I don’t either,” he said.  “But a few more of these and it can all be over.”

Rey snorted.  He made it sound like it was so easy.  Like they could do it all in a week.

Like it wouldn’t cost his life.

“Let me know when you find another one,” she told him.  “Or if you can get away again.”

“I don’t know when that’ll be,” he told her, crushing her to his chest as if he were as excited about the prospect of leaving as she was.  “But I’ll tell you.” He was silent for a moment, before he said, “I have to go, Rey.”

“I know,” she murmured.  She stretched up on her toes and kissed him before tucking his scarf tighter around his neck.  He apparated away a moment later.


	54. It's easier to forgive an enemy than a friend

Things changed gradually.  So gradually that Rey didn’t even notice at first because there were several, more immediate issues that drew most of her attention. 

She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room with her friends the night after the tether when she received a note from Leia carried by a wide-eyed Gryffindor first year.  Rey went to answer the summons at once, leaving her Potions homework piled in the chair by the fire so no younger students would get any ideas.  

Leia answered as soon as Rey knocked on her door.  The old witch looked up, clearly not very happy. Rey understood at once that it was directed at her and she thought she guessed the direction of Leia’s anger.

“Care to tell me why you missed your classes yesterday?” Leia asked.

“I wasn’t well,” Rey answered without thinking.  She had been saying the same thing to her friends and several acquaintances all day and receiving some side-eyed glances from them as a result.  Rey rarely missed class because she was unwell.

“Is that so?  Because I spoke with Healer Zarrin just this afternoon and he told me that you had not been in for any illness but on account of your shoulder, which was…” she looked down at the parchment before her, “heavily bruised and nearly dislocated.”  Leia peered at her over her spectacles. “Which does not strike me as accidental.”

“I said I was unwell,” Rey muttered.  “Not ill.”

Leia pursed her lips and frowned.  “And does this excursion have anything to do with the lies you told my husband the other day in Diagon Alley?”  Rey, finding herself cornered, only shuffled her feet. “Ms. Niima, I have given you everything you have requested of me, have I not?”  Rey nodded without looking at the witch. “I have allowed you the freedom to apparate in and out of the castle whenever you wish, a luxury I would not afford to any other student, and I have asked you very little of your plans or movements.  But you have kept me entirely in the dark.”

“I didn’t know you expected me to inform you of everything I do,” Rey answered, bringing her eyes up to the witch.  “You have other things to attend to.”

Leia sighed.  “You are determined to keep your secrets,” the witch said, clearly unhappy with the result.  “Why? You’re afraid I’ll stop you.” Rey shook her head. Understanding dawned in Leia’s eyes.  “You’re afraid I’ll try to accomplish the task myself.”

“I think there is plenty of evidence, professor,” Rey answered carefully.  “That you don’t like being kept out of the action.”

Leia’s shoulders stiffened a little at her student’s assessment, but she did not refute it.  “Ms. Niima, I have promised to allow you and Ben to carry out your mission.”

“Yet you want a full report,” Rey couldn’t help but challenge.  For some reason, the idea of telling Leia every single thing they did worried her.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the witch, quite the opposite. It was just that a secret was easier to keep when only one person knew it.

Leia sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Rey, do what you must, but if you’re going to have me lie for you, at least let me know what I should say.”

“I assume Han contacted you,” Rey replied, shuffling her feet again.

“And informed me that one of my students had been wandering around Knockturn Alley and purchasing mysterious artefacts from Borgin and Burkes!  Yes, yes, I assured him that it was Order business, but I don’t like lying to my husband.” The glint in Leia’s eyes was dangerous. “So, tell me plainly, was it Order business?”

“Yes,” Rey said truthfully.  “In as much as my business with Ben is ultimately Order business.”

“So, it had something to do with the tethers?” Leia asked.  Rey didn’t answer. “You’re not going to tell me what you purchased at Borgin and Burkes, are you?”  

Rey shook her head.  “I’m sorry, professor, but I think it’s safer if only I know.  Even Ben doesn’t know exactly what I have. It’s better that way.”

“Just tell me that you’re sure it’s safe.”  Rey hesitated. Could a knife be called safe, especially one modified with blood runes?  “At least tell me you know what you purchased.”

“I do, professor.  Exactly.”

Leia nodded, slightly reassured.  “I don’t like not knowing, Ms. Niima.  You have asked a great deal of me, to trust not only you but Ben as well.  Whatever you were doing yesterday, Ms. Niima, were you successful?”

“Yes,” Rey answered.  “We were successful.”

Leia perked up again at that.  “You saw Ben?”

Rey bit her lip as she realized she’d revealed more than she intended.  “I did,” she answered anyway.  

“Is he well?”  Leia leaned forward at the prospect of news about her son.

“As well as can be expected,” Rey answered as honestly as she could, thinking back to his injured ankle and the haunted look in his eyes.  “He’s holding up. He asked after you. I assured him that you made a full recovery.”

Leia nodded, at least a little reassured.  She closed her eyes, perhaps to imagine that Ben had returned and she could ascertain his condition herself.  “I won’t deny that this is difficult for me. I can see that you blame me for my actions at the battle.”

“You put yourself in danger,” Rey answered honestly.  “And Ben. And you knew that he would have to fight you or risk exposing himself as a traitor, yet you fought him anyway, knowing it would achieve nothing.”

“You did too,” Leia reminded her.

“I share a bond with Ben and I knew that I could coordinate it so that neither of us would be hurt.  You don’t have that luxury,” Rey reminded her in turn. It felt odd to speak so freely to her professor.  Rude, even. But she was Ben’s only advocate and she could feel his raw pain at Leia’s actions.  

“Perhaps I acted rashly,” Leia admitted.  She shrugged. “But I have to keep up appearances too and it would have seemed odd if I had done nothing when confronted with my son so changed.”

Rey could sense that it troubled her too and she could see the logic in her response.  “Just...be careful. Ben would never forgive himself if he hurt you or, Godric forbid, killed you.”

“I know,” Leia admitted quietly.  “Tell me, Ms. Niima, did you destroy a tether?”

Rey wanted to tell her and reassure her that they were succeeding in their mission.  They had cleared the first two hurdles. But she could not. She could not give them hope that Snoke was weakened until they knew for sure.  So, she answered, “not yet, professor, but we will. Soon.”

Rey returned to her common room and found her friends and her things exactly as she’d left them.  Rose barely glanced up as Rey entered and resumed her seat. Indeed, her friend had been oddly quiet that whole day.  Poe, who sat on one of the other chairs by the fire, and Finn, sitting on the floor leaning against his boyfriend’s legs, did look up and greet her.  Rey said nothing as she shifted her things and sat down again, returning to her delayed Potions homework.

“What did Leia want?” Poe asked, setting his homework aside for the moment.  He had been given permission to do less homework than the rest of them, who were already getting less than usual, but he uncharacteristically seemed determined to finish it.  Perhaps it made things feel normal again, although he still had trouble with his arm.  

“She just wanted to make sure I caught up on the notes I missed yesterday,” Rey lied without blinking.  It was becoming disturbingly easy to lie to her friends. “I told her I got the notes from Eliza this morning.”

“Of course you did,” Poe muttered, shaking his head.  “Perfect Rey Niima can’t miss a single day of class without panicking.”

“I think you mean  _ prefect _ ,” Finn commented without looking up from his homework.  Poe kicked him as best as he could with Finn trapping his legs.  

Rey glanced at her watch and realized that they had only ten minutes before their new, earlier curfew.  “Whoops. Back to the common room or we’ll get caught by the tossers patrolling the school.”

Poe looked up, serious for once.  “Some of them are aurors.”

Rey rolled her eyes.  “Not the ones doing the patrols.  They’re too good for that.”

Rose left her chair behind too, although she didn’t say anything.  They both bade Finn and Poe goodnight before vacating the Gryffindor common room, waving to Jyn and Cassian as they did.  Cassian seemed to live in the Gryffindor tower now.  

Silence greeted them in the empty hallway.  They walked in silence too, Rose’s eyes trained on the stone in front of her as if she was afraid she would trip.  Rey searched for something to break the silence with her best friend and return them to something like normal. Before she could decide on a worthy topic, Rose rounded on her and forced her to stop or collide with her.  She could read the hurt in her friend’s eyes clearly.  

“I know you weren’t sick yesterday,” Rose accused, folding her arms across her chest.  

Rey’s stomach fluttered.  She decided to play dumb until Rose showed her hand.  “What do you mean? I was in bed all day yesterday, didn’t go to classes, remember?”

“Oh, I remember,” Rose snapped.  “Except I brought you some food at lunch and you weren’t there.  You stuffed pillows into your bed to look like you were. And then you came back later that evening and acted like everything was fine, but you’re favoring your shoulder and do you really think I didn’t notice that cut on your forehead?”  Rey was at a loss for words. “What’s going on, Rey?”

“Rose…”  She sighed.  “Look, I wish I could tell you, I really do.  But I can’t. I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Promised who?” Rose demanded.  Tears stood out clearly in her friend’s eyes.  “I thought I was your best friend. Who did you promise that’s more important than our friendship?”

“I…” Rey paused.  “What are you saying, Rose?  Either I tell you or we’re not friends anymore?”  Rose set her mouth and nodded once. A chill settled over Rey and she fought the urge to cry herself.  “I guess you have your answer, then,” she said slowly. “I can’t tell you.”

Rose blinked at her.  It clearly hadn’t occurred to her that Rey would choose the option that ended their friendship, but she had given her no option.  Not really. “What?”

“I can’t tell you, Rose,” Rey said, growing angrier now.  “Which I already said. You’re trying to use our friendship to blackmail me into telling you information that’s not mine to give.  I thought you trusted me more than that.”

“And I thought you trusted me enough to tell me things!” Rose responded in kind.  “You always have before this.”

“Before this?” Rey threw back at her, taking a step closer to her friend.  “Before this? Rose, everything has changed. Don’t you get it? We’re in the middle of a war!  Telling you my current crush is so much different than that.”

“Right,” Rose answered, coughing out a humorless laugh.  “You’re so important now, I forgot. Of course, you can’t tell me.  Leia didn’t summon  _ me _ to a secret meeting, did she?  Oh no, only Rey can disappear in the middle of the day and get away with it.”

“Rose, that’s not what…”

“Forget it, Rey,” she said.  “I’m tired of living in your shadow.  You just go and do whatever heroic things Leia has planned out for you, but when you reap the consequences of that, don’t come crying to me.”

Rose turned and stalked down the hallway towards their common room, leaving Rey standing dazed behind her.  Most of her wanted to call out to her friend, hurt and angry as she was, and make up with her. But she couldn’t.  Rose couldn’t know where she went or what she did or who with. Rey felt a deep stab of guilt. Rose had thrown all of those things in her face in anger, but she hadn’t been far off the mark at all.  Rey had been keeping secrets from her for far longer than she realized.  

After a while, Rey started back to her common room again.  It had grown so late that she had to run the rest of the way there and still reached it after curfew.  By the time she ascended the stairs to their dormitory, Rose was already curled up in bed. Rey could tell from her breathing that she hadn’t fallen asleep yet, but she didn’t bother her.  

How many other friends would she lose before this was over?

The next morning at breakfast, Finn sat down beside her and started loading his plate full of eggs and toast.  Poe wasn’t with him. “So,” Finn said, almost casually. “Rose tells me you’re not friends anymore.”

Rey swallowed the tears that had been threatening to choke her all morning.  “Something like that.” Finn nodded as if he’d expected that answer. “Here to join her?”

Finn paused, a piece of toast halfway to his mouth.  He slowly lowered it to the plate. “Look, Rey, I’m not getting in the middle of this.  And I’m not saying who’s right. Hell, I don’t know who’s right because I don’t know the whole story.  Have you been acting weird? Hell yes, you have.” Rey opened her mouth to respond, but he didn’t give her time.  “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. But, I figure, you probably have a good reason for not telling me and you’ll do it in your own time.  So, the short answer is no, I’m not ending our long friendship over this. But I’m also not ending my friendship with Rose.”

“That seems fair,” Rey responded.  “Anyway, I wouldn’t want you to end your friendship with her over me.  I don’t want to end any friendships at all.”

Finally, her tears overwhelmed her and she sobbed over her eggs and bacon.  Finn patted her on the back until she calmed down and got ahold of herself again.  “For the record, Poe’s not mad at you either, although he really wants to know how you dislocated your shoulder.”

Rey pressed her lips together and didn’t answer.  Finn accepted her silence. “But,” he continued. “I really wanted to ask you if you’ve seen the Daily Prophet yet?”

That sobered Rey up at once.  “No,” she answered. “I guess I haven’t.”

In truth, the owl had delivered it like clockwork, but she had just folded it up and set it aside for later reading, still too preoccupied with her ongoing feud with Rose.  It sat there still, unopened by her plate. At Finn’s words, she snatched it up and scanned the headline. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, another few deaths and disappearances, but those were becoming as common as toast at breakfast.  Finn wouldn’t come over just for that.

“It’s not on the front page,” he commented, turning the page for her.  “You’ve got to read down a bit. In the ministry section.”

He pointed out the line that had caught his eye.   _ Muggleborn Liaison Office Created at the Ministry _ .  Rey’s blood ran cold.  She dropped her fork. How could they bury something like this on the fifth page?  This was…

“Bloody bastards,” she snarled.  “They’ve infiltrated the ministry.   _ Liaison _ office?  What the fuck?  Are we a different breed, that they need to  _ liaise _ with us?”

“I don’t like it either,” Finn said.  “I think it’s been coming on for a while, but no one has noticed.  We’ve been too busy with the headlines and the deaths.”

But there it sat, plain as day.  Snoke wasn’t interested in headlines and deaths.  He was interested in this. Quietly taking over the ministry from within without anyone even knowing.  

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some tension in the mix now. We all knew Rey's lies would catch up with her. Let me know what you think in the comments.
> 
> FYI I might not be on time with posting next week with the holiday and all, but I will post! Thanks for reading!


	55. Whatever made me think that this was all okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey finds out some startling news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy the chapter :)

As February turned into March, Rey’s life did not improve dramatically.  She did the same things every day: attended classes, did her homework, and searched for a way to keep Ben Solo from dying.  So far, she had only had success with the Hogwarts side of things. For his part, Ben had gone almost entirely radio silent.  It drove her mad to hear nothing from him besides a sudden occasional feeling that crossed their bond. When that feeling was anger or fear, she wrestled with herself to keep from calling out to him.

In the middle of February, Professor Kenobi handed her a piece of parchment with reluctant hands and sad eyes.  Rey didn’t blame him. He hadn’t made the decision and, if they wanted Hogwarts to remain open, no one had any choice but to comply with the recent Ministry-issued guidelines.

With a trembling quill, Rey wrote her name on the parchment beneath  _ sixth year _ : Rey Niima -- muggleborn.  

Another dozen Hufflepuff students bore the same designation as she did.  The rest inscribed their names alongside their housemates out of solidarity rather than necessity.  The half-bloods and purebloods weren’t required to register their blood status. Yet. What was the next step?  Would the ministry issue identification cards that stated their blood statuses? Would they brand her with a new Star of David?

How had they allowed this to happen?

When she handed the completed list back to Kenobi, bile rising in her throat at the sight of the first years’ names printed there, Rey couldn’t look him in the eye.  “Professor, I wondered if you could assign me more work in Ancient Runes? Perhaps NEWT-level?”

Professor Kenobi stared at her.  “Why, Ms. Niima?”  

They both knew why.  “I want to keep ahead on my studies.  I think we both know where this leads.  People don’t make lists for no reason.”

“We won’t let it come to that, Ms. Niima,” Kenobi answered with glassy eyes.

“Respectfully, professor,” she answered, her eyes dropping to the floor.  “It’s come this far. And you will have no control over it when it happens.”

Her professor and head of house didn’t have anything to say to that.  “If that’s what you want, Ms. Niima, I’d be happy to assign you some extra practice.  Merlin knows you don’t need it.”

He looked anything but happy.

Rey thanked him anyway.

“They can’t do this!  They just can’t!” Poe declared when he found out about the lists.  

He and Finn had also written their names on the lists in solidarity with their fellow Gryffindors who bore the same designation as Rey.  Although, in true Gryffindor style, they had opted for  _ blood traitor _ over  _ pureblood. _   Rey tried to caution them against it, but Finn insisted that the list had already been submitted.  

Poe paced across the Gryffindor common room, drawing the looks of his housemates.  The mood in the common room that night was decidedly glum and uncharacteristic for the house best known for their constant pranks and explosive devices.  No one had any pranks to lighten the mood that night. Rey spotted one of the prefects comforting a small band of second year students.

“They just can’t,” he railed against no one in particular, absently massaging his shoulder when it began to bother him again.  Finn took over that task for him instead.  

“They’ve taken over the Ministry,” Rey reminded him quietly.  “They can do whatever they want.”

Finn frowned.  “I’ve met the minister.  I’m surprised he would stand for this.  I’d say they have him under the  _ imperius _ curse, but there are measures in place to prevent that.”

“Well, naturally,” Jyn chimed in from where she lounged with her legs thrown over the arm of the chair.  Outwardly, she seemed her usual self, but Rey noted the way she fidgeted with everything in sight. “Can’t have the minister getting mind controlled every day, now can we?”

“Fine, we’ll have to make them change their minds then,” Poe huffed and continued his pacing.  Finn rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.

“What are you going to do, Poe?  Storm the Ministry?” he asked in frustration.  “None of us like this any more than you do.”

“I know who likes this mess,” Poe declared without pausing to even glance at Finn or any of them.  “Those bloody Slytherins. I bet they’re throwing a party in their dormitory.”

Cassian, who sat on the arm of Jyn’s chair, frowned.  “The Slytherins left at Hogwarts don’t believe all that rubbish.  You know we’re not all Death Eaters, right? No one’s celebrating this bullshit.”

Poe finally stopped his pacing and had the decency to look ashamed of himself.  “Sorry, Cas. I didn’t mean all Slytherins. I just meant, well, y’know, the ones who left to join that rat bastard.”

Jyn patted Cassian’s arm comfortingly and whispered something to him.  He nodded but didn’t speak up again. Silence descended over their group again.  Rey curled her legs into her chest and wished that everything didn’t seem so messed up.  More than anything, she missed Rose.  

When the news first broke that the Ministry would start registering blood status, Rey thought she would hear from her friend.  At least to say how rotten the whole business was. But, besides a few general comments made against the measure in her earshot, Rose had kept up her pattern of freezing Rey out and generally acting as if Rey did not exist.  She knew that Rose hoped that Rey would eventually come to her senses and tell her all of the secrets she’d been keeping, but that just wasn’t going to happen. No matter how much she wanted her best friend back, she couldn’t tell her what she wanted to know.

So, she sat in the Gryffindor common room and missed the absent piece of her friend group.  Things didn’t feel quite right without Rose.  

“Ah,” Finn said, glancing down at his watch and then over to her.  “I, uh, have to go. I promised Rose I’d help her with Defense tonight.”

Rey felt a stab of sadness.  Rose had always come to her for help with Defense.  “Finn, you don’t have to be weird about it,” she said instead.  “I know you’re friends with Rose. I’m glad you are.”

Jyn raised her eyebrows and looked between them.  “Trouble in Badger paradise? I didn’t even know Hufflepuffs could row.”

“That’s the strange thing about us Hufflepuffs,” Rey answered lightly, trying to diffuse some of the awkwardness that had asserted itself as Finn packed his bag.  “We’re just like ordinary people. Rows and all.”

Jyn winced.  “No, you’re really not.  I swear, I had to go down there for something the other day and at least ten people greeted me in  _ five minutes _ .  I don’t know how you  _ survive  _ down there.”  When Rey stood and started packing up her bag too, Jyn’s face fell.  “Oh, come on, Rey. Where are  _ you _ going now?”

“It’s not like that, Jyn.  I have extra Ancient Runes homework this weekend.  I’m just going to head to the library for a bit, but I’ll be around later,” Rey reassured her, throwing her bag over her shoulder.  

Jyn pouted.  “I was going to ask you to a game of Exploding Snap.”

“Maybe later,” Rey reiterated, a little guilty at leaving her friends again.  “Like I said, got to finish up some of this work or I’ll be toast on Monday.”

She left the Gryffindor Tower shortly after Ben, waving to the Fat Lady in response to her warm farewell, and headed towards the library.  In truth, she didn’t have much Ancient Runes homework that weekend, even with the extra work Kenobi had been assigning her at her request. She did have some more research to do, however.  

Rey walked to the library in silence, sending lingering glances out onto the grounds, where the sun had finally broken through the winter chill and brought a semblance of warmth back to Hogwarts.  What she really wanted to do was fly, but that had been banned after too many students snuck out after dark to attempt it. Poe had received a detention for that very thing and had ruined it for the rest of them.  Their brooms had been locked up in the school cupboards. For their safety, they claimed.  

_ What a load of bullshit _ , Rey thought.  Hogwarts felt more like a prison every day.  They had ever-increasing restrictions on their movements and activities.  No one could leave their common room after eight. Patrol Officers who all looked a lot like the one from Diagon Alley canvassed the halls and the school at all times of day.  She nodded to an Auror as she passed one in the hall.  

Rey entered the stuffy silence of the library and let the door close softly behind her.  The librarian nodded to her as she passed by his desk, barely sparing her a second glance.  The library had become something of a second home to her of late, especially since the Room of Requirement remained off-limits.  She swept down the aisles, looking for an empty and secluded alcove. In one, she passed Finn and Rose but didn’t stay to comment.  

The Daily Prophet crinkled a little bit in the stillness as she pulled one from her bag, followed soon by three others.  She scanned their headlines, which all reported recent confirmed attacks by Death Eaters, searching for any sign of Ben. Had he been at any of these attacks?  It sickened her to think that she would be relieved if he was, just to know that he was alright.

_ “Rey?” _ his voice floated across her mind.  At first, Rey was sure she’d imagined it, she’d gone so long without hearing it.  But then it came again.  _ “Rey?” _

_ “Oh, thank Merlin, Ben, are you okay?” _

_ “Fine,” _ he said and his answer was tinged with bitterness.   _ “Just busy.” _

_ “The attacks…” _

_ “That’s part of it.”   _ She took a deep breath and focused on her relief just to hear his voice again.   _ “Have you heard about the registration?” _

_ “Of the Muggleborns?  Oh, yes, I’ve heard. I signed the list a week ago.” _   She couldn’t help the resentment that seeped into her voice.

_ “They’re getting ready to ban Muggleborns for good, Rey.  They want to kick you all out of the wizarding world.” _   Rey’s blood chilled, although it was nothing more or less than she’d expected.   _ “First step is registration.  Next is banning you from Hogwarts and the ministry.” _

_ “I know,” _ Rey answered to reassure him.   _ “What else would they do with that?  Don’t worry, I’m working on arrangements.  I’m not going back to the Muggle world. And I won’t surrender my wand.” _

_ “Good.  You need to protect yourself.” _

_ “Do you know when?” _

_ “No,”  _ he answered.   _ “I’m trying to find out, but I’m not involved with the Ministry side of things. _ ”  Rey wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he was involved in.  What dirty work did Snoke have him doing now?  _ “I’ll try to let you know before it happens.” _

_ “Any news?” _

Ben was silent for more than five minutes, so long she thought he’d been called away again and wouldn’t answer at all.   _ “I think I found another one,”  _ he answered finally.   _ “In Germany.  No clue what it is.” _

_ “Do you know where?  Maybe I can do some research before we have a chance to go.” _

_ “It’s in a castle.  Weird place. Boseberg Castle, I think.  Doesn’t show up on any Muggle maps _ , _ ”  _ Ben said.   _ “I think the last one we did was his first.  Things might get harder from here on out.” _

Harder?  What could possibly be harder than what they’d already done?  That tree had nearly killed them several times.  _ “We’ll be ready.” _

_ “I think we can go at the end of March.” _

Ben vanished again after that with the briefest of goodbyes.  Rey sighed, got up from her table, and pulled every book she could find on Boseberg Castle and that region of Germany.


	56. I'm headed straight for the castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean.

Rey apparated into another forest like she had the last time.  Just as then, she could see a village over the hill, filled with the sounds of a quiet evening.  Again, she apparated in alone and walked into the forest rather than the town, parallel to a forest path.  The atmosphere, however, was very different than the last snow-covered forest.  

For one, the weather had warmed considerably with the coming of spring.  The trees, previously bare, sprouted with buds and the beginnings of flowers.  The wind still held a certain chill but it carried the promise of warmth and new growth.  The budding blooms struck her as too cheerful for the occasion.

Because this time Rey knew more about what lay before them and she didn’t like it one bit.  Boseburg Castle, as it turned out, had a bit of a reputation among wizards and none at all among Muggles.  As she had learned in weeks of reading, the castle only appeared under the full moon. Many wizards had ventured inside, seeking something in particular or just out of curiosity for this odd place.  As far as she could tell, few had returned. Those who had told horror stories so outlandish they’d been sent to St. Mungo’s.

Over the trees, the sun sank towards the horizon.  The dry, brown grass crunched a little under her trainers as she followed the snaking path through the woods.  Nothing moved, not even a bird in the branches of the trees or a squirrel on the ground. Odd, she thought, for such a forest to be so empty.  She stopped when she reached the edge of a clearing too large to be natural.

Rey could see the trees on the far side, but they made a perfect oval around the empty expanse of dead grass.  No clearing could form like that. The air hung with a deep sense of foreboding, almost crackling with energy. Rey shifted, hearing the snap of twigs with every small movement.  The sun drew closer to the horizon. Where was Ben? If he didn’t make it in time, would she go in alone and risk it or force them to return next month, when the castle reappeared under the next full moon?

They had too little time for Ben to be late today of all days.  Once the sun disappeared and the full moon rose, they would have only the night to make it through whatever obstacles lay inside, find the tether within, destroy it, and return before the sun rose.  Rey speculated that time in the castle was warped like in the vault, judging by the rambling accounts of the few survivors. What trials lay inside...none of them could bring themselves to say.

Rey stared at the clearing and wondered if she would be another soul lost to the castle.  

“Rey,” a voice said behind her.  She turned to see Ben stepping out of the trees, pushing a stray twig out of his way.  This time, he wore not a simple sweater and jeans, but sweeping black robes, the kind she’d seen on him in the battle at Hogwarts.  His black cloak swept across the ground behind him and his boots left clear imprints. Did he have the mask too? Had he just come from a Death Eater event?

“Ben,” she said, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the cloak or keep them from hunting for that damned mask.  He looked down at himself and his cheeks colored. With a wave of his wand, he transformed his black robes into something simpler, until he almost looked like Ben again and not Kylo Ren.  Rey couldn’t unsee it.  

“Sorry,” he said, his face pale.  She nodded and looked away, trying to swallow around the bile in her throat.  “Rey?”

“It’s fine,” she insisted.  “I just hate seeing you in that thing.  It makes you look...like  _ him _ .”

Ben was silent for a moment.  “Like who, Rey? Snoke?”

“Kylo Ren,” she whispered, finally looking up at him.  

He looked away from her gaze.  “I am Kylo Ren.”

She took a step closer to him and put a hand on his arm.  “No, you’re not. You’re here. That proves it.”

Ben met her gaze then, timid and unsure.   _ Ben, _ not Kylo Ren.  “I have to be him too.  I have to be him too, if we want to pull this off.”  His eyes pleaded with her to understand. “No matter how much I hate it.”

“Do you?” she asked, even though she could feel how much it pained him through their bond.  She had to hear it from him, in his voice not just her mind. “Do you hate it?”

He swallowed hard and nodded.  “But sometimes,” he admitted. “Sometimes I think I don’t.  In another world, I think I could have relished it.”

Rey didn’t want to consider that.  What would it be like, to see a Ben completely surrendered to Kylo Ren and no longer himself?  How much had Snoke taken from him? “I suppose, in another world, I could be fighting you instead of helping you.”

“I’m glad we live in this world,” he said, his hand finding hers and giving it a squeeze.  Rey stretched up on her toes to kiss him quickly. They turned their attention to the oval clearing before them.  “Do you suppose we’re here?”

“I’m sure of it,” she answered.  “How many clearings do you see shaped like this?  Anyway, you can see the beginnings of the outline, just there.”

She gestured to the middle of the clearing where, as she had said, the barest outline of the castle was visible in the darkening landscape.  It was so faint that if she hadn’t known it was there, she would have mistaken it for a trick of the light.  

Ben squinted at it and nodded.  As the sun sank closer to the horizon and the darkness descended, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in close to his side.  Rey relished the warmth. With the progressive dying of the light, the outline became clearer in the air. They waited.

When the moon rose over the treeline, an enormous, bright globe in the sky, the castle shimmered into full form.  It happened in the blink of an eye. One minute, she could barely make out the outline against the trees. The next, an enormous stone structure stood in front of them, its empty windows yawning in the twilight.  Was it just her imagination or did the moon seem closer than usual? Rey had to tilt her head back to see the whole of the castle. She gripped Ben’s hand in hers and took a deep breath. They didn’t have time to delay, yet she found her feet rooted to the earth.  

“Ready?” he asked, his voice unusually soft.

She started out a laugh.  “No.” But she headed for the door anyway.  They scanned the ground as they walked, wands in hand, to the door.  “Should we go in through the door?”

“Where do you want to go in?” he asked, stopping on the doorstep.  “The window? Are we robbing the place now?”

“Kind of.  Anyway, the door could be booby-trapped or enchanted,” she suggested, eyeing the handle.  “The window isn’t completely ridiculous.”

“And the window would be much safer.”  He rolled his eyes and looked around. “We made it here without incident.”  He shrugged. “How bad can it be?”

Rey eyed the frowning windows and harsh lines of the castle and doubted his optimism, but Ben had already reached for the handle.

The door gave under his touch and swung open without a hitch.  It wasn’t even locked. Nevertheless, for a moment, neither of them made a move to step through the door.  Finally, Ben drew his wand and nodded, stepping over the threshold and into the darkness of the entranceway before she could stop him.  Nothing happened. He stood just inside the door and held his hand out to her for a moment to keep her from following. Still, nothing happened.

“It’s a bit odd, don’t you think?” she said as she joined him with her wand drawn and took his hand.  “At the last one, we had to sacrifice something to get in. Now, it just lets us in, just like that? Maybe we’re infected with something and we don’t even know it.”

“It had better take effect quickly,” he said, a grim set to his face.  “If it wants to kill us before we destroy the tether.”

“I just mean it seems like Snoke would want to keep us out.  Are you sure we’re in the right place? The tether is here?”

He nodded, looking around them at the gloomy darkness of the hall.  “It’s here. I can feel it.”

Rey shuddered at his words.  The shadows lengthening around them didn’t help much either.  It was as if the very castle was built from the twilight it inhabited.  Not a single light shone within as far as she could see and the corners were dusted with centuries of cobwebs.

“They need some house elves in here,” she muttered.

“Let’s go,” Ben said finally, taking a step forward into the hall.  “We don’t have much time.”

Before they’d moved three feet, the door behind them closed on its own.  Rey jumped at the sound and they both froze. She looked up at Ben, her hand still in his.  “Something tells me,” she said. “Snoke  _ wants _ us in here.  And I think that’s worse.”

“We haven’t encountered anything so far,” Ben said with a shrug.  “Let’s go.”

They took the last few steps that brought them to the edge of the hallway.  A crimson rug ran in front of them, the first sign of furnishings or decoration they’d seen.  Had someone lived here once? Rey looked down the hall in each direction. Nothing distinguished one side from the other.  They both curved inward.

“Which direction, d’you think?” she asked, glancing back and forth between them.

“Looks like they go the same place, in the end,” Ben answered, following her gaze.  “Right.”

He took a step forward, pulling them towards the right.  As soon as his foot touched the crimson carpet, the stone gave way beneath him and he plummeted into a pit that had appeared before them.  Instinctively, Rey tightened her grip on his hand as he fell. The force of it pulled her to the ground, but she kept her hold on him, even when he slammed into the wall.  Through the blanket of shadows, she could make out the glint of spikes at the bottom of the pit. Ben looked down and noticed the same thing.

“A spiked pit?  Really?” he huffed, tossing his wand back up onto the ledge beside her.  

“Can you complain about the quality of the traps later, please?” she hissed at him, holding fast to him with both hands.  Her wand lay abandoned a foot or so to her right, where it had rolled when she dropped it. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.  I can’t pull you up. I have to reach my wand.”

She felt Ben tighten his grip on her hand and she did the same.  Rey took a deep breath and released one hand, reaching for her wand.  As soon as she felt the smooth wood, she called, “ _ Wingardium Leviosa! _ ”

Ben floated into the air as if seized by an invisible hand and pulled aloft.  Rey didn’t release his hand until she had safely deposited him on the ground beside her.  When she glanced down into the pit again, she spotted the sheen of something grayish-white...something that looked suspiciously like  _ bone. _

“A  _ spiked  _ goddamn  _ pit? _ ” Ben yelled as he caught his breath with his back on the stone floor.  “Really, Snoke? That’s what you’ve got?”

“Well, it worked on someone,” she said, pointing to the skeleton she could see clearly now that she’d cast  _ lumos _ .  The unfortunate fellow leered up at them.  “Rotten luck,” she whispered to him. “Sorry, mate.”

“I suppose it would have worked on me too, if you hadn’t been here,” Ben admitted, crawling to the edge of the pit beside her.  Rey hoped fervently that the rest of the floor didn’t decide to give way too. “Thanks, Rey.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said.  “It’s clever, really. That pit’s too low for you to cast  _ Arresto Momentum _ but far enough to kill you for sure.  Probably slowly. But something tells me Snoke has a lot more than a spiked pit up his sleeve.”

Ben glanced uneasily back towards the door.  “I think you’re right. It was awfully easy to get in here.  I think he wants us in here. The better to kill us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tune back in next week for the Labyrinth!


	57. The Labyrinth of a Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey venture into the castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm a day late but here it is! I should have a chapter posted early next week because of the holidays, maybe even this weekend. Merry Christmas! Have a creepy castle for your holiday cheer!

Rey could feel Ben’s fear as if it were her own.  Perhaps it was. The hallway stretched before them in either direction, each way identical and unnerving in its innocence.  The floor beneath the faded red carpet was smooth, but the floor that had given way beneath Ben’s feet had been smooth too. Did these traps leave any noticeable trace?  Was this magic at all? Who would come up with such cruel magic?

“ _ Lumos Maxima! _ ” she called, casting a mini sun of their own to illuminate their path down the hallway, whichever direction they chose.  When thus brightened, the situation did not look any better.

“Which way?” she asked again, eyeing the pit in front of them.  It spanned the entire space before the entranceway, leaving them no stable floor to cross in either direction.  She wondered if the floor would collapse if she leapt the distance.

“Left,” Ben said, changing the direction they’d selected before.  Rey huffed a laugh. She didn’t think it made much of a difference.  

Rey started to ask how they should get across the spiked pit, but Ben lifted his wand and conjured a path for them.  He crossed first and held out his hand for Rey when he reached the other side. She leapt the last few steps with bated breath.  

The hallway stretched before them like the mouth of a yawning beast.  The light hovering over them revealed gray stones pocked with age and a frayed red carpet and little else.  She saw no new threats in the floor, no matter how carefully she looked, although she doubted Snoke would use the same trick twice.  He knew they would be looking at the floor now…

Ben grabbed her arm and tugged her to a stop.  Her heart leapt into her throat as she did. Silently, he indicated a thin thread about two inches before the bridge of her nose.  She followed its path and found a crossbow embedded in the wall, it’s arrow perfectly poised to strike through her skull. Ben’s hasty thinking had saved her from a nasty death.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered, backing away from the thread as if it could break under her breath.  “What the hell is wrong with him? Is this whole place booby-trapped?”

“Maybe he wants to scare us to death,” Ben suggested.  “Make us so paranoid that we can’t step anywhere without checking the whole hallway.”

Not a bad plan, she thought, since they only had the night to find their query and destroy it.  Snoke’s mission was to delay them just long enough that they would become trapped forever in the castle.  Or kill them in a trap first. The back of Rey’s neck prickled as if she were being watched that very moment.  Hunted. Was this what a deer felt like in the crosshairs?

They ducked under the thread and continued down the hallway in relative safety.  Before long, they came to a place where the corridor branched off in two different directions.  They paused, considering which to take and checking the floor for another spiked pit. They chose right and continued.  It was at the second branching of the corridor that Rey realized what they’d stumbled into.  

“Ben,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop as he made to turn right again.  He froze and searched the air and ground before him. “It’s a Labyrinth.”

“What?”

“The castle, Ben, it’s an enormous Labyrinth.  A maze. There must be traps the whole way through.  The tether is in the middle.” She looked around them, at the walls and the next split in the halls.  It looked roughly circular. How many turns had they already made? Would they be able to find their way back?

“We’ll get lost,” he muttered, as if coming to the same realization.  “We could record our turns on a notepad and reverse them to get out again.”

“We have to find our way to the middle first,” she reminded him, digging through her pack for something.  She cursed when she couldn’t find it. “Have you ever heard of the story of Theseus?”

Ben scrunched his eyebrows.  “The Greek hero?”

“Yes,” she said impatiently.  “The Greek hero.” She gave up on her rummaging and pointed her wand at the bag, saying  _ Accio _ clearly.  A ball of string emerged and plopped into her hand.  Ben looked even more confused than before. “When Theseus entered the maze and slew the Minotaur, Ariadne gave him a ball of string.  He tied it at the beginning and unwound it as he walked, so that he could follow it to get out again.”

“Yes, I think I remember,” Ben said slowly, his eyes still on the ball of string in her hand.  “But why do you have a ball of string?”

“Never know what we’ll need.  Aren’t you glad I do? Besides, sometimes I like to knit,” she answered, finding the end of the string and unwinding it a few feet.  

“You like to knit?”

“Yes, I like to knit.”

“Why?”  He looked genuinely confused.  

“Because it’s relaxing and gives me something to do with my hands.  And if I knit with my wand, the clothes come out enchanted. Rose taught me.  That’s beside the point. Go back and tie this to something.” She handed him the end of the string and let it unwind in her hands.  Ben disappeared down the hall and out of sight. Alone now, Rey regretted letting him go alone, but the steady unwinding of the ball comforted her.  A moment later, it stopped, and then he was back.  

“We can unwind the ball behind us as we go,” she said and they eyed the branching of the hall again.  “We should choose the same direction too, so we keep moving to a new place. Theoretically.”

“Well,” Ben thought.  “The right seems like it’s going in the right direction.  And we chose it before.”

“Right it is then,” Rey said and prayed they were correct.  They moved forward hand in hand, just in case someone fell into another spiked pit.  

What they encountered down the passage, however, was not a spiked pit but something far worse.  As they rounded another curve in the passage, Rey stopped in her tracks, forcing Ben, who was still connected to her by their joined hands, to do the same.  

“Is that…” she started and then paused, unable to finish.  “Is that a sphinx?”

A creature certainly sat down the corridor, it’s bottom half that of a lion, long tail twitching behind it.  The head, though, was that of a woman with straight black hair and narrowed eyes. Her grin revealed a set of pointed teeth.  

“Yes, dear,” the sphinx answered for herself, her almond-shaped amber eyes gleaming at her in a way that most certainly wasn’t human.  “Haven’t you seen one before?”

“Well, no offense, but you’re not exactly common in Britain.  Or in castles for that matter,” Rey told her and then shook herself.  “Is it a riddle, then?”

“Three,” the sphinx said with a wide smile.  “I’ve had centuries to come up with them, dear.  Take your time.”

“Has anyone ever finished all of your riddles?” Rey asked.  

It was the wrong question.  The sphinx’s smile faded. “One man,” she answered with a sour expression.  “Foolish man, too. I suspect he cheated.”

“Oh, yes,” Rey said quickly.  “I’m sure he must have. No one could beat your riddles, I’m certain of it.  They must be so cleverly devised.”

The smile returned, no less unnerving than before.  “You’re right, of course. Such a sweet girl. It’ll be a shame to eat you.  I’ll think fondly of you as I gnaw on your bones.”

Rey didn’t like the sound of that.  She glanced up at Ben, who nodded that he was ready.  “The first riddle?”

The sphinx sat up straighter and cleared her throat.  When she spoke, her voice had changed to a purring cadence:

“One hand behind, no foot beneath.

Always has jaws, sometimes has teeth.

Might lean left, might lean right.

Poke through the eyes to make it bite.

Though it bites, it never eats.

Seldom near blankets, often near sheets.”

Rey blinked at her, mind totally blank.  On the other end of the bond, she could feel Ben mentally running through the words as well and also coming up empty.   _ Always has jaws...sometimes teeth? _ _ Though it bites, it never eats? _ _ This is why I’m not a Ravenclaw _ , Rey thought.  She found herself grateful that she didn’t have to answer riddles every time she wanted to enter her common room, although the practice would have helped.  The longer she deliberated, the wider the sphinx’s smile grew.  

The answer came to her like a light.  “It’s scissors, isn’t it?”

The sphinx’s smile fell.  “Yes, you’re right, very clever.  Your second riddle:

I am a black child sprung from a bright sire,

A wingless bird, fleeting to heaven from earth.

Each eye that meets me weeps, but not from grief,

And in thin air I vanish at my birth.”

This time, it was Ben who answered, much faster than Rey had with the first.  “It’s smoke,” he said almost at once. “That’s an old one.”

At that, the sphinx growled and Rey took an automatic step back.  “All of my riddles are original,” she snarled. “How dare you, insolent boy?”

“Our third riddle?” Rey suggested, hoping to get her mind off eating Ben.  

“Yes,” the sphinx growled, no trace of her former smile.  “Of course. This one might help, I hear, if you make it to the end of the labyrinth.

I look at you whene'er you look at me;

You see but I see not; no sight have I;

I speak but have no voice; your voice is heard;

My lips can only open uselessly.”

Again, Ben answered the third riddle after only a moment or two of deliberation.  “A reflection,” he said.  

The sphinx growled, and Rey’s hand tightened on her wand, but she disappeared in a puff of smoke.  Rey looked up at Ben. “You’re good at that.”

He shrugged.  “My mother’s the head of Ravenclaw house.  She used to help the eagle write some of the riddles and she’d always test them on me.  I guess I got used to it.”

“Maybe you should have been a Ravenclaw,” Rey suggested.  “But I like your common room.”

He gave her a small smile.  “Me too. We probably wouldn’t be here if I was a Ravenclaw.”

Rey realized that he was right.  “Honestly, I thought she’d attack us anyway.”

He nodded.  “Me too. But sphinxes are known for their code of ethics, at least in that respect.  Let’s go.”

They continued down the hall unopposed and encountered no obstacles for a while.  Rey wondered how long they’d been in the castle. Her watch didn’t seem to tell time in there, although the one Ben had given her had his hand pointing to  _ in danger _ .  Yes, she supposed they were both in danger at the present moment.

They had just turned a corner and started down another hallway when she felt something snag her ankle.  A second later, she was yanked backwards, out of Ben’s grip, and slung into the air. In the haze of her panic, she realized two things: she had dropped her wand and some sort of plant had her in its grasp.  

“Ben!” she shrieked as the plant wrapped around her middle.  A heartbeat after that, she felt the sinking bite of something on her arm.  The snares dropped her all at once and she hit the ground with a painful  _ thud.   _

Ben was at her side in a second, his hands gently probing her bitten arm.  The skin around the bite had already begun to turn an alarming shade of purple.  “It’s a venomous tentacula,” she said, gasping as the burning rushed through her, faster than she’d expected.  Professor Kenobi had allowed one to bite him in class with the antidote on hand to demonstrate what would happen, describing his symptoms all the way.  Rey knew that hers had progressed much faster than his. “Ben, do something. There must be an antidote around here somewhere.”

She desperately hoped so, as she grew dizzy with the continued burning and her entire arm turned purple.  Venomous Tentaculas weren’t typically fatal, but she imagined this one had been modified slightly. Ben hesitated but then left her crouching on the ground as he searched the area for anything that could be an antidote.  The hallway remained empty. He even pushed on the walls in a desperate search for a secret passage.  

“ _ Revelio! _ ” he shouted, pointing his wand in the general direction of down the hall.  To both her surprise and evidently his as well, a small table appeared in the middle of the hall lined with several vials that all looked the same.  “Merlin,” he said, running up to them. “What does it look like?”

“Don’t you ever pay attention in Herbology?” she complained, cursing Ben Solo and his inattention.  She figured she could do more of that later, after they’d found her an antidote and prevented her from going all Violent Beauregard in the hall.  “It’s purple,” she called, wincing as the burning found its way into her toes.  

“Purple,” he muttered to himself.  “Two of these are purple, Rey!”

She wanted to hex Snoke into the next century.  The other one was probably Angel’s Trumpet, a particularly fast-acting and painful poison.  Why not just kill her? Why provide them with an antidote at all? To give her a false sense of hope?  Perhaps none of them were antidotes and he wanted Ben to feel the guilt of killing her with his own hand.  

“It smells like pepper,” she called, dropping against the wall as the world spun and darkened around her. 

Ben was at her side again in a moment, holding something cold to her lips.  She choked on whatever he poured down her throat. She couldn’t remember what it was.  Angel’s Trumpet? She feebly tried to push him away. But her vision and mind began to clear.  When she looked down at her arm, it had turned a vague shade of lilac instead of vivid purple. Ben heaved a sigh of relief and tossed the empty vial aside.

“Merlin, Rey,” he muttered.  “Can you try not to die for a minute?”

“You’re one to talk,” she answered, shaking her head a little.  “I distinctly remember pulling you out of a spiked pit earlier.”  She winced and longed for a nice drink of water. Or maybe some firewhisky after the day she’d had.  “Help me up, would you? We need to keep moving.”

“Rey…”

“If we don’t get out in time,” she reminded him.  “We’ll both die and I don’t fancy that idea. Help. Me. Up.”

“If I’d known those things were so venomous, I think I’d have been more careful around the one in Herbology,” he said as he pulled her to her feet and helped her steady herself.  

“Frank wasn’t so bad,” Rey told him.  “Anyway, that one’s clearly been modified.  Weren’t you there last year when Professor Kenobi let Frank bite him to show us what it does?”

Ben frowned.  “I think I’d remember that.”

They continued down the hall hand in hand, Rey wincing as the after-effects of the bite faded with every step.  The red yarn left a trail behind them like a thin stream of blood. When they neared the end of the hall, they stopped.  They could see another split in the path ahead, but their way was barred with a sheen of golden mist.  

“What the fuck now?” Ben muttered to himself, still supporting much of her weight.  “Ever read anything about this shit?”

Rey shook her head.  She had been reading up on many things in the past weeks, but a mysterious golden mist was not one of them.  “D’you suppose it’s a poison?”

“Could be,” he said.  “Been there, done that.  Maybe there’s an antidote on the other side.”

“Or maybe not and it’ll just kill us,” she suggested.  “We could try going a different way.”

Ben frowned at the golden mist.  It hung in the air a few feet in front of them and glittered innocently, like the bath bomb Rose had given her last year for Christmas.  It had to do something. Snoke wouldn’t put it there if it would just add a little shimmer to their cheeks.

“Well,” he said, “if we’re encountering traps, we must be going the right way.  There’s only one way to find out.”

“Ben, no,” she said, but it was too late.  He’d already released her hand and walked into the mist.  Rey held her breath.

For a moment, nothing happened.  Ben paused in the midst of the cloud as if puzzled.  “Bloody hell,” he hissed and let out a string of curses.  “Rey, do you see this?”

“See what?” she asked, afraid he’d gone mad in it.  Maybe it wasn’t a poison after all, but a curse to drive them insane.  “Ben, you’re just standing in the cloud. Keep walking.”

“No, really, Rey.  I’m upside down,” he said, a note of panic creeping into his voice.  

Rey understood then.  “Ben, keep walking.”

“I’m fucking upside down, Rey.  Are you crazy?”

“Ben, you know I would never put you in danger.  Trust me. Keep walking,” she said, taking a step closer and fighting to keep her voice reassuring.  

He did as she asked, one shaky step at a time.  Finally, he emerged on the other side of the mist.  He turned back to her and blinked. “It just...turns you upside down?”

“It makes you think you’ve turned upside down when you haven’t,” she told him, staring at him through the innocent golden shimmer.  All in all, it wasn’t the worst thing they’d encountered, although it appeared as if one person hadn’t managed to find his way out, if the skull leering at her was anything to judge by.  

“Your turn,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  “It’s going to feel weird as hell. Just keep walking.”

“Remind me if I stop,” Rey answered, hesitating at the edge of the fog.  She didn’t relish the idea of her mind playing tricks on her, but Ben appeared to be fine on the other side.  Taking a deep breath, she plunged into the fog.

He was right.  It was weird as hell and unnerving.  She felt as if only a tenuous hook kept her tethered to the earth and she’d fall off any second.  But she could see Ben, upside down, at the end and so she kept moving. Eventually, she crossed to the other side of the fog and the world righted itself again.  

The maze went on and on until it felt like it wouldn’t end and Rey wondered if they’d already exceeded the time allotted to them.  Would there be some sort of signal when they ran out of time and were sealed in there for good? Or would they just make it to the door and find it gone?  It was a terrifying thought. It didn’t help that they had to battle magical creatures and increasingly arduous tasks.  

Around another bend, Ben defeated a boggart that took the shape of Snoke, with his beady eyes and mocking smile.  When he cast  _ riddikulus _ , he didn’t bother changing it into anything amusing.  The figure dropped to the floor, dead in an instant with the knife Rey held stuck in its heart.  Ben barked out a triumphant laugh and the boggart vanished. Rey didn’t know what form her boggart would take anymore and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.  How could she make the deaths of her friends and family funny? Or would her boggart be Snoke too? Ben’s face and mind were closed off for a while after that.

Rey defeated an acromantula with a wave of her wand.  After all of the things they’d faced that night and before, it wasn’t even difficult.  As they turned right again, she began to wonder if they’d chosen the wrong direction and taken the long path around the maze.  What if they never reached the end?  

The air around them grew cold.  She was so distracted, it took Rey several seconds to recognize the tell-tale signs of a Dementor.  By then, she and Ben both had their wands drawn and pointed towards the shadowy figure. Twin Patronuses, one unicorn and one thestral, burst from their wands and galloped down the hallway.  It seemed somehow fitting that his Patronus had come in handy after they’d spent so long perfecting it.

The ball of string in Rey’s hand ran low, but she kept unwinding it behind her.  Would they ever reach the center of the maze? When she was just about to voice her concerns to Ben, their path ended at a door. 

They had reached the center of the maze.


	58. Mirror, Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben reach the center of the maze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I like this, but here it is! Let me know what you think. Next chapter probably won't be for a week and a half or so, but I'll try to post if I have a computer! In the mean time, if you just can't get enough of my writing, check out my other WIP ;)

Rey looked up at Ben and back to the simple, wooden door set in the wall.  It didn’t seem fitting, after everything they’d faced to make it there, scratched and weak.  Would it open for them? Was it even locked? What lay beyond it?

Ben stepped forward, wand drawn, to find out.  He hesitated, as if weighing the merits of going straight to  _ Alohamora! _ before even trying the door handle.  At last, he did reach out and try the handle.

The door wasn’t locked.  It swung open at the lightest touch, as if anticipating their arrival and heralding them.  Rey held her wand before her as they advanced together into the center of the maze.  

They found themselves in a circular room entirely devoid of anything in the way of decoration or even the slightest appearance of decoration, as the rest of the house had contained.  It became utterly clear to her in that moment that no one had ever lived in this castle. Some madman had built it and intended it for an elaborate trap. What purpose it had originally served, she couldn’t even imagine.  Snoke had repurposed it into something even worse. But it could be beaten, she was sure of it, because Snoke had to have done so in order to place his tether here.

For here it must be.  She could feel it as soon as Ben sensed it in the room, his senses snapping taught as if straining for the thing that was tethered in some roundabout way to his own life force.  The room curved around perfectly, but she could not see through to the other side. In the center, like the hole in a donut, stood another curved wall. The tether must be there, she thought.  But how did they get to it? The room contained nothing save for a single, floor-length mirror set into the wall opposite.  

“Is that the Mirror of Erised?” she asked.  She’d seen the mirror only once before, in an exhibit with other magical artifacts that visited Hogwarts.  She hadn’t dared to look into it then. Was that what they had to do to get the tether? Look into the mirror?  Want the tether so badly that it appeared in the mirror?

Ben’s eyes widened as he took in the mirror.  “No, that’s not the Mirror of Erised,” he said slowly.  “I think it’s its twin. Vulcan’s Mirror.”

Rey turned to him with her brow furrowed.  She had never heard of such a thing. “Vulcan?  The Roman god of the forge?” Ben nodded, not taking his eyes off the mirror.  “I’ve heard of him but not of the mirror.”

Ben finally looked down at her, something lost and scared in his face.  “It’s a legend that Vulcan made it. In reality, some wizard craftsman did when he made the Mirror of Erised.  It’s been missing for centuries. Some say it shows you exactly who you are, all the worst pieces of yourself. Some say it’ll drive you mad when it does.”

Rey looked back at the mirror, glittering innocently in the light.  “Do you believe them?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, his eyes back on the mirror.  “But there are few accounts of anyone who has looked into the mirror and lived.”

“There must be another way in there,” Rey said and she took a lap around the room to find out.  Ben didn’t follow her, as if he knew the answer already. She tried blowing a hole into the wall, but that didn’t work either.  Eventually, she resigned herself to the fact that they would have to use the mirror, if they were to get in at all. When she circled back around to Ben, she realized the door had shut behind them.  When she tried the handle, it wouldn’t budge. “Great,” she huffed. “ _ Now _ the door is locked.”

“Stay here,” Ben answered.  “No matter what happens, don’t come closer.”

“No,” she said, grabbing his arm.  “You can’t, Ben. I’ll do it.”

He shook her hand off.  “I asked you to come with me.  You’re not going to look into that thing.”

Ben started for it again without looking back.  Rey panicked. They both knew he had more he regretted in his life.  Would that make him better equipped to handle it or worse? Would it really drive him mad?  Rey did the first thing she could think of. She hexed him. “ _ Petrificus Totalus!” _

He had the briefest moment to look shocked before he froze mid-step.  His mind, unaffected by the spell, screamed at her through their bond until she winced.  He willed her to stop, to cast the counter-curse, to leave him there, anything but look in the mirror.  She ignored him, although his pleas brought tears to her eyes. Rey took a deep breath and looked into its depths.

For a moment, nothing happened.  The surface of the mirror showed only her reflection, plain and unassuming.  But then the glass rippled and changed until she was staring at herself again but not as she looked in a mirror.  She couldn’t describe what it felt like to look in the mirror. She got only impressions, hints, some memories of her past.   _ A broken girl, clawing for any sense of belonging, blinded to the true nature of others.  Unwanted child, discarded by her own parents. Nobody. Nothing. No place in the wizarding world.  No place in the Muggle world. No place in her family. No place among her friends.   _

It went on and on and on, spilling her deepest secrets out into the light, dragging her weary soul through the mud until she thought her mind would break apart with it.  Everything she’d buried, everything she’d fought against, it dredged up and displayed for her to see. When had she started crying? How long had it been? When had she sunk to the floor with the grief of it all?  

Her vision began to clear and she saw herself again.  A broken girl, yes. An unwanted child, yes. A Muggleborn trying to carve a place for herself in the wizarding world, yes.  She accepted these truths. She accepted the broken pieces of herself. She saw a woman who had been dealt nothing but sorrow in her life yet had grown up to be intelligent and kind.  She saw a girl who loved fiercely and sacrificed everything for her friends. She saw a witch fighting for her place in the world with nothing but the claws on her hands.

She saw the darkness too.  How far would she go to save her friends?  What price would she pay to save Ben Solo? Rey blinked and realized she didn’t regret any of it.  Hufflepuff to the core, she would save her family and friends above everything.

Rey got up off the floor.  She looked into the mirror and saw a unicorn gazing back, its hooves and horn red with blood.  Behind it, she could sense others waiting. Something to protect. She looked into the unicorn’s eyes as they stared her down in judgement, and she accepted it, all of it, every bit of what she’d seen and what she would do.  

The mirror slid back and revealed a small, circular chamber.  Rey didn’t take her eyes off of the object at the center as she flicked her wand and released Ben from the spell.  His hands were on her in a second, framing her cheeks and forcing her eyes up to his instead of on the tether that lay before her.  

“Rey, are you okay?  Merlin, Rey, don’t ever do that again,” he begged her.

“I’m fine,” she answered, although her voice sounded ragged, as if she’d been screaming.  Had she been screaming? “I’m here.”

“You...you survived,” Ben said, looking between her and the mirror.  “What did you see?”

Rey thought about the unicorn, about all the things that ran through her mind when she looked into the mirror.  “I saw myself.”

Ben didn’t press her for more information, just wrapped his arms around her and held onto her for dear life.  Rey hugged him back and knew that if he had seen what she had seen, he would hold her still.

Eventually, they turned their attention back to the tether at the center of the room.  A wide, shallow, silver bowl sat on a simple stone pedestal in the tiny chamber. A Pensieve, by the look of it.  As she approached it, she could see that it had dark, swirling liquid in it and it looked like someone had deposited some memories there.  Snoke? Someone else who had gotten there first?  

“A Pensieve?” Ben said, staring at the bowl before them.  

“Should we watch the memories?  They could be Snoke’s. Maybe something will help us,” she suggested.  Something in her wanted to use those memories against him just as he had used hers.

Ben looked down at his watch even though it didn’t function inside the castle and shook his head.  “We can’t risk it. It could be another trap, meant to keep us in here until it’s too late. Let’s just destroy the thing and leave.”

Rey withdrew the rune-carved knife from her pocket with a shaking hand.  She held it out to Ben. “It’s your turn.”

He eyed the knife.  “I think you’ve earned this one.”

But Rey shook her head.  “I can’t, Ben. I’m shaking too much.  You do it.”

Taking the knife from her, he held her hand as he brandished the knife over the shallow bowl.  With one sure movement, he brought it down into the center and the Pensieve cracked with an almighty shriek that echoed in the chamber.  The crack continued down the pillar and into the floor beneath them until the entire castle shook around them. Stones began to rain down from the ceiling, the walls, everywhere.

“Run, Ben!” she called and turned back towards the door, towing him behind her.  She hoped he still had the knife with him. They ran for the door as the castle crumbled and cracked around them but found it still shut and locked fast.  Rey didn’t stop. She withdrew her wand and with a steady hand called,  _ “Bombarda!” _

The wall beside the door exploded with the force of her spell.  They ran down the hall, following the trail of blood left by the string she’d dutifully unwound the entire way.  With every turn and every step, Rey questioned its accuracy. Surely they had taken a different direction there? This hallway didn’t look familiar.  Ben didn’t falter. He followed the string with unwavering steps until they saw the pit in the floor that told them the entrance was near.  

Ben hoisted her onto the makeshift bridge and nearly catapulted her to the other side.  He leapt down after her just a bare second before the bridge too crumbled into the spiked pit.  A stone fell from the ceiling - she could see the gray sky through it now - and into his shoulder.  Rey tugged him forward, towards the door. If she could just reach it...just open it...they would be free.  Her hand scrabbled for the handle as the floor beneath their feet gave way.  

The door opened and Rey threw herself through it and into the graying light of dawn.  She turned just in time to see the castle crumble behind her. “Ben!” she yelled. But he was there, lying just a few feet away, covered in dust and catching his breath.  She crawled over to him and collapsed across his chest. He smoothed her hair away from her face.  

Above the trees, the sun tinged the clouds orange and pink and purple with its rising.  Rey listened to the birds sing and breathed in the fresh air. “We made it,” Ben gasped, as if echoing her thoughts.

Rey sat up.  “Let me check your shoulder.”

“No, thanks,” he groaned.  “Your rubbish at healing spells.”

Rey would have argued with him, but she couldn’t.  She was, indeed, rubbish at healing spells. “Well, if it helps, I’ve been practicing with Eliza.”

He watched her through narrowed eyes.  “How much practice?”

“Lots,” she reassured him.  “Only basic healing spells.”

“You’re not going to turn me into a toad?”

Rey rolled her eyes.  “Transfiguration is  _ entirely  _ different from healing magic and you know that very well, Ben Solo.  You’ll be lucky if I tend to your shoulder now.”

He looked like he wanted to argue with her but allowed her to cast a few rudimentary healing spells on his injured shoulder.  When she’d finished and released him, he tested it a few times. “I suppose that does feel a bit better,” he admitted with a frown.

“You owe me an apology, Ben Solo.”  Rey crossed her arms over her chest.

He did her one better.  He kissed her. As he pulled away, she could feel the weight of the kiss, more than just an appreciation for her minor healing abilities.  He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “Don’t sacrifice yourself for me, Rey.” He said the words as if they were pulled from a wound in his chest.  “I can’t live with myself if you do.”

“I swore to you I would help you finish this,” Rey answered, pressing her own kiss to his forehead.  “And I will. That includes not letting you take all the risks.”

“I haven’t been doing much of that,” he grumbled.  “You keep putting yourself in harm’s way.” To prove his point, he picked up her left hand and massaged the raised scar that remained from her foray into blood runes.

“I’ll be more careful,” she allowed.  “But I can’t say I won’t do the same thing again, if it comes to it.  You’re taking too much risk already in the belly of the beast. And I’m going to make sure you get out of it alive.”

Ben didn’t speak his thoughts aloud, but they floated down the bond nonetheless.   _ “We both know that’s not going to happen.” _

Rey didn’t argue with him this time, but she also didn’t agree.  She would have made the same choice again, if faced with another Vulcan’s Mirror with Ben by her side.  It hadn’t broken her after all. And, if what the mirror showed her was true, it had given her the answers she needed.

For the mirror had not only taken something from Rey, it had given something in return.  She saw just how far she would go to save Ben Solo. And the mirror had shown her exactly what she needed to do to save him.

If it would come true, only time would tell. 


End file.
